THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


5 


I 


MEMOIR 


OP 


GEORGE  T.  DAY,  D.D. 


MINISTER   AND    EDITOR: 
1846—1875. 


BY 

WILLIAM  H.  BOWEN,  D.D. 


DOVER,  N.  H. : 

FREEWILL  BAPTIST  PRINTING  ESTABLISHMENT. 

1876. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1876,  by 

I.  D.  STEWART, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


I3A 


TO 

THE  YOUNG  MEN 
OP  THE  DENOMINATION  OP  WHICH  HE 

OF  WHOM  WE  WRITE 
WAS  A  MOST  HELPFUL  AND  EFFICIENT  SERVANT, 

THIS  VOLUME  IS  INSCRIBED, 

WITH  A  DEVOUT  DESIRE  THAT  IT 

MAY  FURNISH  QUICKENING  AND  ENCOURAGEMENT 

FOR  THEIR  OWN  CHRISTIAN  SERVICE, 

BY  THE 

AUTHOR. 


550389 


PREFACE. 


The  preparation  of  this  memoir  of  my  early  spiritual  guide 
and  my  latest  counsellor,  has  been  invested  with  the  sacred- 
ness  of  duty  and  love. 

Dr.  Day  left  no  sketch  of  his  life,  —  not  even  a  record  or 
notes  of  the  most  important  events  of  it.  His  private  corres- 
pondence, in  those  forms  which  lay  open  the  sanctuary  of  the 
inner  life,  was  very  limited ;  that  which  is  found  upon  these 
pages,  so  rich  in  Christian  experience,  so  characteristic,  leaves 
us  ardently  longing  for  more. 

The  first  sermon,  of  those  inserted,  is  the  only  one  found  in 
MS.  which  has  not  been  already  published,  except  two  or 
three  belonging  to  the  earliest  years  of  "his  ministry.  We 
have  attempted  to  represent  his  pulpit  work,  therefore,  chiefly 
by  selecting  from  the  multitude  of  such  brief  sketches  as  he 
usually  carried  to  the  pulpit,  some  of  "  The  tops  of  thoughts  " 
written  in  the  quietude  of  his  study.  These  appear  as, 
"  Studies  of  the  Word  and  Life."  While  we  regret  that  they 


VI  PREFACE. 

must  partially  take  the  place  of  pithy,  electric  utterances 
thrown  off  under  the  inspiration  of  the  hour  of  delivery,  yet  we 
hope  that  these  brief  sentences  which  suggested  the  living 
utterance,  or  often  constituted  it,  will  go  far  toward  renewing 
and  preserving  valuable  impressions  of  by  -  gone  Sabbath 
hours.  We  have  also,  in  the  same  chapter,  given  numerous  ex- 
tracts from  his  editorials  in  the  Morning  Star. 

The  peculiar  value  of  his  characteristic  letters  from  abroad, 
specially  emphasize  many  expressed  wishes  for  their  insertion. 
All  his  lectures,  —  excepting  "  Across  the  Desert,"  and  "  Eu- 
rope," the  chief  features  of  which  are  given  in  his  foreign  let- 
ters, —  are  found  in  these  pages. 

The  difficulties  arising  in  our  task  from  the  absence  of  usual 
materials  for  a  memoir  among  Dr.  Day's  papers,  have  been 
greatly  relieved  by  the  cheerful  and  valuable  help  rendered  by 
manywho,  moreor  less  intimately,  were  associated  withhislife. 

We  have  aimed  to  exhibit  his  character  and  work  to  the 
fullest  extent  possible  within  the  limits  of  a  single  volume. 
We  have  endeavored  to  do  this  in  such  a  way  that,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  meaning  of  his  whole  life,  they  should  be 
full  of  helpful  ministries  to  mind  and  heart,  that  his  "  works  " 
may  "follow  him."  Not  the  least  welcome  and  durable  of 
those  "  works  "  will  be  that  which  he  will  continue  to  perform 
l>y  his  words  recorded  for  hearts  bowed  in  affliction.  As 


PREFACE.  Vli 

we  have  trodden  the  old  familiar  ways  anew  with  our  father 
in  Israel,  another  presence  hath  accompanied  us ;  for,  in  the 
same  month  in  which  he  ascended,  one  who,  in  the  fullness  of 
his  loving,  sunny  boyhood,  used  to  call  him  "  Papa  Day,"  en- 
tered one  of  the  "  many  mansions." 

If  this  memoir  shall  create  in  the  hearts  of  readers  who  had 
not  the  rare  privilege  of  his  personal  acquaintance,  a  sense  of 
loss  because  they  did  not  know  him ;  —  if,  especially,  it  shall 
suggest  to  his  friends,  or  enable  them  to  supply,  those  name- 
less, inexpressible  graces  which  each  holds  peculiar  and  dear- 
est, the  most  ardent  wish  of  the  author  will  be  satisfied. 

Lewiston,  Me.,  Dec.  20, 1875. 


CONTENTS. 


i. 

PAGE. 
YOUTH  AND  EARLY  MANHOOD     -----  il 


II. 

IN  THE  MINISTRY  :    Grafton,  Chester,  Olneyville  35 

III. 

IN  THE  MINISTRY  :    Providence.    Letters    -  76 

IV. 
EDITORIAL  LIFE       -..--.-.      127 

V. 

MEMORIALS  of  his  Death  and  Character       ...          160 

VI. 

RECREATION  in  Europe  and  the  East  196 


CONTENTS. 

VII. 

STUDIES  OP  THE  WORD  AND  LIFE         -  241 

VIII. 

SERMONS  AND  LECTURES  : 

i.      Religious  Prosperity         ------  294 

11.      Christ's  Vital  Relations  to  Men    -  319 

m.    Christianity :  Our  Help  and  Hope    -  344 

IT.    The  Bright  and  Dark  Sides  of  Life       -        -        -  372 

v.      Public  Opinion -  -      383 

vi.    Crusades  and  Crusaders       -----  399 

vn.   Anglo-Saxon:  The  Old  and  the  New     -  416 


GEORGE   TIFFANY   DAY. 


i. 

YOUTH   AND   EARLY  MANHOOD. 

1822 — 1847. 

ON  the    eighth    of  December,    1822,    a  new- 
born child  was  welcomed  to  a  home  of  piety 
and  love,  in  the  town  of  Concord,  now  Day,  Sara- 
toga Co.,  N.  Y. 

He  was  the  fifth  son  and  tenth  child  of  Benjamin 
and  Cynthia  (Kent)  Day.  Other  Georges  had  en- 
tered life  with  greater  earthly  advantages,  certainly, 
to  help  answer  the  question,  "  What  manner  of 
child  shall  this  be?"  He  owned  no  illustrious  an- 
cestry, nor  family  name  honored  even  in  decay. 
No  delicate  training,  nor  luxurious  shielding  from 
rough,  unkindly  influences  awaited  his  steps.  But 


12  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

intellectual  power  and  royal  gifts  refuse  to  enter  no 
cottage,  however  humble,  nor  avoid  the  dwellings 
of  poverty. 

At  three  years  of  age,  he  showed  unusual  apti- 
tude of  mind  in  learning  and  reciting  stanzas  of  po- 
etry, and  some  entire  Psalms.  When  three  and  a 
half  years  old,  he  removed  with  his  parents  to 
Hope,  in  the  town  of  Scituate,  R.  I.,  where  he 
spent  nearly  two  years.  At  five  years  of  age, 
George  was  sent  with  the  older  children,  to  work  in 
the  cotton  mill,  his  little  help  in  contributing  to 
family  support  being  deemed  necessary. 

For  several  years  his  time  was  divided  between 
the  mill  and  the  school.  Often,  however,  he 
worked  until  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  returning 
to  the  mill  at  the  close  of  school  in  the  afternoon. 
The  days  of  labor  at  that  period  were  strangely 
long  and  wearisome ;  beginning,  the  year  round, 
with  the  earliest  light,  and  closing  at  eight  o'clock 
at  night,  in  the  fall  and  winter,  and  at  sunset  in 
spring  and  summer.  It  was  not  uncommon  to  find 
children  of  that  tender  age,  even  more  closely  con- 
fined to  the  mill  than  he. 

Removing  from  Hope  to  Hebronville,  Mass.,  and 
thence,  after  two  years,  to  Kent,  now  Lebanon, 
Mass.,  the  family  remained  together  until  October, 
1834,  Just  preceding  George's  twelfth  birthday, 


CHILDHOOD    AND    YOUTH.  13 

when  his  mother,  for  whom  he  possessed  a  most  ar- 
dent affection,  died.  Thirteen  of  her  fourteen  chil- 
dren survived  her.  His  father  died  about  eight 
years  after. 

The  mother  keeps  the  home  for  the  children's  re- 
turning footsteps  and  love,  and  when  she  passes 
away,  the  wide  world  claims  them.  With  three 
other  members  of  the  family,  George  left  home  for 
work  in  the  mill  at  Lonsdale,  R.  I.,  soon  after  his 
mother's  death.  Here  he  remained,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  months,  until  he  was  eighteen 
years  of  age.  While  at  Kent  he  attended  school 
for  a  short  time  only.  After  removing  to  Lonsdale, 
his  school  '  days  were  interrupted  altogether. 

His  parents  were  members  of  the  Congregational 
church  in  Hebronville.  Amid  poverty  and  the 
cares  of  so  large  a  household,  they  conscientiously 
carried  forward  the  religious  training  of  their  chil- 
dren. They  insisted,  with  the  strictness  of  an  ear- 
lier time,  upon  the  observance  of  religious  duties. 
The  catechism  and  Scriptures  furnished  tasks  to  be 
learned  on  Sunday.  One  of  the  reminiscences  of 
his  boyhood,  is  of  a  Sunday  when  he  was  left  at 
home  by  his  father,  with  the  one  hundred  and  nine- 
teenth Psalm  to  be  committed  to  memory  and  re- 
cited before  sunset.  He  regularly  attended  Sun- 
day school  at  Hebronville,  previous  to  his  mother's 


14  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

death.  Before  his  sixth  birthday  he  was  sprinkled 
by  Rev.  Thomas  Williams,  pastor  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church  at  H. 

His  mature  estimate  of  the  value  and  wisdom  of 
this  form  of  early  discipline,  finds  this  expres- 
sion:— "There  is  certainly  much  to  commend  in 
the  earnestness  with  which  our  New  England  an- 
cestry sought  to  indoctrinate  the  youth  of  their 
charge.  They  believed  the  sentiments  taught  in 
the  catechism  as  fundamental  in  practical  religion, 
as  is  education  in  a  popular  government.  To  reject 
the  '  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,'  seemed  to 
them  equivalent  to  a  rejection  of  God's  plan  of  sav- 
ing the  soul.  Their  faith  was  practical,  and  their 
conviction  expressed  itself  in  action.  They  felt  that 
their  duty  was  done  only  when  they  had  securely 
deposited  within  the  store  -  house  of  their  children's 
intellects,  that  whole  digest  of  theology ;  and  then 
they  waited  for  religion  to  spring  up  from  the  soil 
which  their  training  had  prepared. 

"  Nor  was  their  labor  in  vain.  It  may  some- 
times have  cramped  the  intellect  by  repressing  its 
inquiries,  and  curtailing  its  rational  freedom.  It 
may  sometimes  have  increased  the  tendency  to  fling 
the  charge  of  heresy  at  every  dissatisfied  inquirer, 
and  begotten  such  a  tendency  where  it  was  not  be- 
fore. The  doctrines  of  divine  appointment  and 


THE    GREAT    DECISION.  15 

providence,  may  have  sometimes  weakened  the 
feeling  of  individual  obligation,  and  induced  a  few 
daring  minds,  unable  to  reconcile  the  statements 
with  philosophy  or  consciousness,  to  plunge  boldly 
into  skepticism.  After  all,  that  early  training  ope- 
rated powerfully  as  a  conservative  force  in  the  moral 
life  of  that  early  time  ;  and  aided  in  nurturing  and 
developing  elements  of  character  that  have  done 
much  to  make  whatever  is  valuable  in  American 
mind  and  American  institutions.  It  kept  alive  a 
solemn  reverence  for  God,  for  truth,  for  sacred 
things,  for  duty,  for  moral  heroism,  for  the  civil 
magistracy,  for  age  and  for  order."* 

The  religious  training  was  answered  by  this  large 
number  of  children,  without  exception,  by  lives  of 
virtue'  and  positions  of  respectability. 

Martin  Cheney,  pastor  of  the  F.  Baptist  church 
at  Olneyville,  in  labors  most  abundant  and  self-  de- 
nying, unable  to  confine  his  work  to  his  immediate 
field,  answered  frequent  and  earnest  calls  for  "his  la- 
bors in  neighboring  towns  and  villages.  Many 
were  thus  brought  under  the  influence  of  the  Gos- 
pel who  had  never  else  heard  it.  He  was  accus- 
tomed to  visit,  among  these  outposts  of  labor,  the  vil- 
lage of  Lonsdale,  at  the  invitation  of  some  families 
who  had  removed  thither  from  Olneyville.  Indica- 


*LU'e  of  Martin  Cheney,  p.  15. 


l6  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

tions  of  unusual  interest  induced  him  to  commence 
a  series  of  meetings  in  the  beginning  of  the  winter 
of  1839 — 4°*  His  hopes  of  a  revival  were  not  dis- 
appointed, a  number  being  brought  to  Christ. 

The  religious  interest  had  almost  lost  its  special 
power,  and  still  George,  who  had  attended  the 
meetings  with  some  regularity,  seemed  entirely  un- 
moved. The  final  result  is  given  in  his  own  words  : 
"  One  day  I  was  meditating  upon  the  matter.  The 
question  was  asked  me  :  '  Are  you  willing  to  live 
longer  such  an  ungrateful  life?  '  I  pondered,  I  de- 
cided. *  Will  you  live  hereafter  in  obedience  to 
God?'  Another  season  of  reflection,  and  the  last 
decision  was  made.  Only  an  hour  had  passed,  and 
I  felt  that  I  was  in  a  new  relation  to  God,  entering 
upon  a  new  life."  His  attention  had  been  arrested 
by  a  sermon  from  Mr.  Cheney  on  the  text :  "  Come 
unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor,  and  are  heavy  laden, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest." 

This  process  of  calm,  intellectual  reflection  and 
decision,  which  characterized  his  conversion,  was 
reproduced  to  no  small  extent  in  the  experience  of 
many  whom  he  led  to  Christ.  Though  his  appeals 
from  the  pulpit,  and  in  private,  lacked  somewhat 
in  the  emotional  element,  they  stirred  hearts  pro- 
foundly. It  was  his  conviction  that  the  better  way 
to  radically  affect  the  life  and  secure  continued  and 


THE     GREAT     DECISION.  17 

abundant  fruitage  for  the  Master,  was  to  reach  the 
heart  chiefly  through  the  intellect.  The  large  spir- 
itual results  of  his  ministry,  and  their  permanency, 
go  far  to  prove  the  correctness  of  his  theory.  Many 
can  recall  the  earnest  pleading,  the  apt  illustrations, 
the  cogent  reasoning,  and  the  loving,  brotherly  in- 
terest with  which  he  attempted  to  draw  their  love 
and  life  to  his  own  Helper  and  Redeemer.  As  one 
who  could  not  be  denied  for  Christ's  sake,  he  en- 
tered the  lists  in  behalf  of  wayward,  straying  souls, 
to  help  them  win  the  great  battle  of  life. 

In  his  own  case,  the  fruitage  showed  the  gen- 
uineness of  his  faith  and  the  fullness  of  his  consecra- 
tion. His  conversion,  occurring  in  1840,  in  the 
spring  following  his  seventeenth  birthday,  gave 
significance  and  direction  to  his  entire  future. 

At  five  years  of  age  he  had  read  with  great  ea- 
gerness and  intelligent  comprehension,  every  book 
which  the  library  of  his  Sunday  school  could  fur- 
nish ;  but  years  of  severe  toil  greatly  diminished  this 
love  of  books,  and  straitened  pecuniary  circumstan- 
ces could  not  allow  food  for  its  growth.  Special 
encouragement  to  learning  which  others  might  have 
supplied,  being  wanting,  the  physical  prostration 
incident  to  his  labors,  and  the  demands  of  a  grow- 
ing body  for  recreation  being  especially  exacting, 
little  trace  of  that  early  thirst  for  knowledge  seems 


l8  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

to  have  appeared  in  the  interval  between  his  twelfth 
and  seventeenth  years.  Ambition  took  new  and 
surprising  directions ;  the  better  and  higher  aims 
were  held  in  abeyance,  and  there  seemed  to  be  lit- 
tle promise  of  a  high  and  noble  manhood. 

His  life  was  kept,  however,  from  gross  vices. 
Amid  all  his  wildness  and  seeming  recklessness  in 
the  companionship  of  low  associates,  he  never  was 
known  to  make  religion,  either  in  its  professors  or 
its  claims,  the  subject  of  joke  or  sarcasm.  "  When 
I  was  tempted  to  use  profane  words,  like  some  of 
my  companions,  I  always  seemed  to  feel  the  pres- 
sure of  my  mother's  hand  as  it  used  to  rest  in  boy- 
hood upon  my  head  as  she  commended  me  nightly 
to  God  in  prayer,"  is  his  touching  testimony  to  the 
maternal  influence  which  never  left  his  spirit.  As 
it  was  the  earliest  influence,  so  it  was  the  latest,  to 
which  he  responded.  It  was  recognized  all  through 
the  waywardness,  and  the  consecration,  and  the  vi- 
cissitudes of  his  life.  It  was  upon  him  in  his  last 
public  address  delivered  at  the  Anniversary  of  the 
Free  Baptist  Woman's  Mission  Society,  Oct.,  1874. 
The  tenderest,  sweetest  portion  of  that  address  was 
a  tribute  to  the  virtues  and  life  of  that  mother  whose 
tones  earliest  evoked  his  own,  and  which  sang 
themselves  all  through  his  life,  to  burst  out  in  notes 
of  devotion  and  praise,  in  this  his  own  dying  song. 


MATERNAL     INFLUENCE.  19 

He  speaks  of  her  as  the  "  meek  and  saintly  spirit 
that  lighted  our  early  home  with  piety  and  love, 
even  now  acting  on  our  hearts  freely,  sweeping  all 
its  chords  with  strange  power,  though  it  be  many 
years  since  she  obeyed  the  summons,  *  come  up 
higher."1  As,  in  the  closing  hour  of  a  most  busy 
and  trying  week,  he  summoned  his  flagging  ener- 
gies to  the  fulfillment  of  a  promised  service  in  be- 
half of  womanhood  in  India,  that  motherly  pa- 
tience and  self-denial,  sensitive  love  and  thought- 
ful tenderness  seemed  to  culminate  in  his  own 
spirit,  imparting  to  it  a  chastened  dignity  and  a 
mellow  luster  which  impressed  his  audience  as  on 
no  previous  occasion. 

The  tenderest  spirits  are  strongest,  and  often 
yearn  for  the  grander  exhibitions  of  God's  nature, 
and  most  freely  respond  to  their  power.  With  the 
spell  of  the  holy  influences  of  the  evening  before 
still  upon  him,  he  preached  Sunday  morning  from 
the  words:  "But  the  natural  man^receiveth  not 

the  things  of  the  spirit  of  God "It 

was  an  effort  of  surpassing  power,  magnificent  in 
imagery  and  reach  of  thought,  full  of  devotion  and 
fidelity  to  a  love  better  to  him  than  life.  It  was  fit- 
tingly his  last  sermon. 

We  are  aware  of  digression  from  the  special 
promise  of  this  chapter,  but  the  grouping  of  events 


2O  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

may   sometimes   most   fittingly   require   other  than 
mere  chronological  order. 

Such  a  character  as  that  of  Martin  Cheney,  defi- 
nite, independent,  full  of  sincerity  and  daring  impul- 
ses, was  needed  to  make  the  required  impression 
upon  this  young  disciple,  whose  years  had  recently 
been  full  of  frivolity  and  aimlessness.  He  must  be 
trained  by  some  master  hand  and  made  to  listen  to 
truth  spoken  with  authority,  before  his  true  life  - 
work  should  stand  out  clothed  with  significance. 
Mr.  Cheney  was  now  at  the  height  of  his  fame  and 
power  as  a  preacher,  and  his  personal  magnetism 
was  in  fullest  play,  and  as  a  master  he  directed  and 
inspired  the  soul  of  his  awakened  and  willing  pu- 
pil. 

Then  came  a  most  perplexing  question  in  re- 
spect to  church  membership.  The  preferences  of 
the  family  were  with  the  Congregationalists,  to 
whose  customs  and  tenets  his  acquaintance  had 
been  almost  wholly  confined,  and  his  connection 
with  that  order  was  naturally  sought  with  some 
eagerness.  He  had  known  a  little  of  the  Calvinist 
Baptists.  An  Episcopal  society  held  services  in  the 
village.  He  knew  nothing  of  the  Free  Baptists 
save  through  Mr.  Cheney.  At  length,  after  pro- 
curing and  carefully  studying  the  confessions  of 
faith  of  these  and  some  other  religious  bodies,  he 


STUDENT     LIFE.  21 

decided  to  unite  with  the  F.  Baptist  church  in 
Olneyville.  He  was  baptized  by  Mr.  Cheney  on 
the  second  Sunday  in  May,  1840,  and  received  into 
church  fellowship. 

An  older  brother  about  this  time  removing  to 
Saccarappa,  Me.,  George  accompanied  him,  and  for 
two  years  continued  at  work  in  the  mill.  But  now 
a  new  ambition  burns  within  him,  his  early  thirst 
for  knowledge  comes  back  with  manifold  power, 
baptized  with  holy  fervor.  Within  this  period  he 
read  wholly  by  candle-light  more  than  twelve 
thousand  pages.  His  religious  purposes  gained 
strength,  and  his  desire  for  Christian  service  began 
to  manifest  itself  in  decided  forms.  He  found  duty 
in  the  prayer  room,  where  his  exercises  both  in 
prayer  and  word,  became  increasingly  welcome, 
and  where  he  was  often  assigned  leadership.  Grad- 
ually the  conviction  arose  in  his  own  heart  and  with 
others,  that  the  gospel  ministry  was  likely  to  be- 
come his  life  service.  Though  unsettled  as  to  his 
future  sphere  of  toil,  he  could  not  feel  that  any  po- 
sition was  to  be  successfully  entered  upon  without 
systematic  literary  training.  He  accordingly  re- 
turned to  Rhode  Island,  and  at  the  commencement 
of  the  academical  year,  in  1843,  began  study  in 
Smithville  Seminary,  Rev.  Hosea  Quinby,  Princi- 
pal. 


22  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

His  entrance  upon  student  life  was  characterized 
by  an  intelligent,  deep  enthusiasm.  His  long  cher- 
ished dream  was  about  to  be  realized ;  the  conquest 
of  the  realm  of  knowledge,  upon  which  he  had  de- 
sired to  enter,  especially  since  his  conversion,  seem- 
ed more  practicable  now.  Freed  from  the  burdens 
and  hindrances  of  daily  manual  labor,  he  entered 
most  joyfully  into  the  more  exhausting  toil  of  the 
study  and  class-room.  He  had  a  definite  purpose  ; 
knew  the  value  of  his  opportunities  and  grasped 
them  as  a  miser  his  gold.  He  was  now  almost 
twenty  years  of  age,  and  the  time  had  already  gone 
by  in  which  the  majority  of  youth  complete  their 
academical  studies. 

The  prescribed  hours  of  study  were  easy  limits  to 
his  ambition  and  his  endurance,  the  average  time 
spent  over  his  books  being  from  twelve  to  fourteen 
hours  daily.  The  tasks  set  for  his  class  were  faith- 
fully and  quickly  learned,  and  then  left  for  other 
studies  and  literary  pursuits.  He  was  excessively 
fond  of,  and  expert  in,  youthful  sports  in  his  early 
life,  but  he  sparingly,  or  rarely,  indulged  in  them 
at  Smithville.  He  was  avaricious  of  even  the  mo- 
ments which  had,  with  wisdom,  been  given  to  rec- 
reation. 

His  work  in  the  classroom  was  marked  by  exact- 
ness, and  showed  careful  and  liberal  preparation. 


A    WINTER    AT    BRISTOL.  23 

His  recitations  were  not  confined  to  the  routine  of 
the  text  -  book,  but  conveyed  the  result  of  collateral 
reading  and  study.  The  manual  was  the  starting- 
point  from  which  he  proceeded  to  new  investiga- 
tions, and  afforded  stimulus  to  inquiries  in  fields  be- 
yond. Although  not  mingling  with  great  freedom, 
nor  promiscuously,  with  his  fellow  students,  yet  he 
gained  no  unpleasant  reputation  for  exclusiveness, 
but  by  his  kindly,  conciliatory  spirit,  and  his  emi- 
nent abilities,  won  their  admiration  and  love.  The 
attitude  of  Principal  and  teachers  toward  him  soon 
became  more  like  that  toward  a  younger  brother 
than  a  pupil.  In  the  fall  of  his  second  year,  the 
Principal  having  occasion  to  be  absent  for  two 
weeks,  he  was  put  in  charge  of  the  classes  of  the 
Principal  and  of  the  government  of  the  school.  His 
services  were  attended  by  the  respect  and  obedience 
of  pupils,  and  the  satisfaction  of  teachers. 

In  December  of  this  year,  he  accepted  the  charge 
of  the  High  school  in  Bristol,  R.  I.  His  work  as  a 
teacher  and  disciplinarian  received  commendation, 
and  met  success.  His  hours  out  of  school  were  still 
devoted  to  close  study,  or  the  writing  of  essays  and 
lectures,  upon  which  he  spent  much  time  and  labor. 
His  lectures  were  delivered  before  various  associa- 
tions in  the  town.  Though  his  time  of  study  and  read- 
ing had  been  very  limited,  yet  these  produc- 


24  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

tions  show  more  than  an  ordinary  acquaintance 
with  the  geological  theories  of  the  time,  with  the 
issues  of  the  temperance  controversy,  and  with  the 
history  of  the  slavery  question,  and  its  prominent 
actors.  They  exhibit,  besides,  no  ordinary  ac- 
quaintance with  English  prose  writers,  and  poets. 
His  discussions  were  mature  in  thought  and  style ; 
the  arguments  carefully  stated,  and  supported  by 
abundant  proofs.  We  can  not  help  the  expression 
of  regret,  as  we  examine  these  early  productions 
and  note  their  ability  and  promise,  that  greater  wis- 
dom had  not  regulated  his  application,  and  that  a 
more  intelligent  decision  did  not  fix  the  kind  and 
amount  of  his  intellectual  training.  It  did  not  re- 
quire the  keen  insight  of  Dr.  Shepard  to  enable  one 
to  declare,  as  he  did :  "  Mr.  Day  will  make  one  of 
our  ablest  men." 

During  the  winter,  among  other  lectures,  he  pre- 
pared, with  his  usual  care,  one  upon  Temperance. 
His  brother  Lewis,  then  a  resident  of  the  town,  was 
desirous  that  it  should  be  delivered  in  the  Congre- 
gational church.  Upon  expressing  his  wish  to  Rev. 
T.  P.  Shepard,  the  pastor,  he  was  met  by  the  re- 
ply: "We  have  had  a  great  many  temperance 
lectures;  they  are  all  about  alike,  and  the  people, 
I  think,  are  getting  tired  of  them;  but  if  your 
brother  wishes  to  speak,  I  will  announce  his  ad- 


THE     CHRISTIAN     STUDENT.  25 

dress,  to  be  given  in  the  vestry,  and  will  at  the  same 
time  say  that  other  speakers  may  be  expected  also ; 
so  if  he  does  not  get  on  well,  I,  with  others,  will  try 
to  help  him  out. "  At  the  hour  fixed,  the  speaker 
was  introduced  not  a  little  distrustfully.  After 
listening  five  minutes  with  increasing  interest,  anx- 
iety fully  giving  way  to  confidence,  Mr.  Shepard 
left  the  platform  and  took  a  seat  among  the  au- 
dience, directly  in  front  of  the  speaker,  who  contin- 
ued to  hold  undivided  attention  for  an  hour.  Mr. 
S.  referring  to  it  afterward,  said  with  nervous  em- 
phasis :  "I  didn't  know  the  man.  " 

He  was  soon  after  invited  to  lecture  in  the  au- 
dience room  of  the  church,  where  he  was  greeted, 
on  his  appearance,  by  a  large  congregation.  On 
whatever  topic  he  spoke  subsequently,  during  that 
winter,  he  never  failed  of  a  flattering  reception. 
He  is  remembered  by  some  of  the  older  residents  of 
the  town  with  special  interest,  and  reference  to  his  ef- 
forts still  awakens  enthusiasm.  A  part  of  another 
winter  was  also  spent  in  teaching  in  the  same  town. 

His  religious  life  at  the  Seminary  gave  no  out- 
ward occasion  for  anxiety,  yet  he  often  had  seasons 
of  self-  reproach  for  his  coldness  .and  inactivity. 
Concern  also  for  the  religious  welfare  of  the  school, 
mingled  largely  in  his  meditations  and  prayers.  At 
one  time  he  writes  : 


26  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

"  There  is  a  religious  stupidity  among  us  at  the 
Seminary  which  is  truly  alarming.  Science  has  its 
votaries,  pleasure  pleads  successfully,  and  worldly 
intellectual  ambition  enthralls  many  hearts  ;  but  re- 
ligion, bearing  to  us  the  great  lessons,  the  great  as- 
pirations and  hopes  of  life,  revealed  by  the  blood  of 
Immanuel,  is  forgotten.  My  soul,  arouse  thy  dor- 
mant energies,  awake  and  gird  thyself  for  thy  ardu- 
ous task.  Not  only  thy  own  destiny  but  that  of  a 
thousand  others  may  depend  upon  thy  activity  or 
indolence.  " 

On  the  evening  of  his  twenty -first  birthday,  after 
recounting,  with  deep  gratitude,  the  many  mercies 
which  had  crowned  his  life,  among  which  he  spe- 
cially mentions  the  prayerful  love  of  Christian 
parents,  and  the  helpful  solicitude  of  brothers  and 
sisters,  he  concludes  his  reflections  with  these  de- 
vout words : 

"And  what  shall  I  do  but  dedicate  myself  anew 
to  God,  consecrate  myself  afresh  to  his  service,  and 
devote  my  life  to  the  work  of  aiding  the  cause  of 
righteousness  in  promoting  the  highest  present  and 
future  welfare  of  mankind?  Holy  Father,  confirm 
and  seal  these  resolutions  of  faithfulness,  that  my 
life  may  tell  to  some  good  account.  And  when  I 
shall  have  fulfilled  all  thy  will  on  earth  *  may  1  be 
permitted  an  inheritance  among  the  sanctified, 
through  the  merits  and  sacrifice  of  an  atoning  Re- 
deemer. " 

It  was  often  remarked  by  his  friends  that  "  He 


>  THEOLOGICAL,    STUDY    AT    WHITESTOWN.         27 

ought  to  go  to  college.  "  This  question  of  a  colle- 
giate course,  after  giving  it  considerable  attention, 
he  decided  in  the  negative,  although  specially  en- 
couraged by  one  of  his  brothers,  and  also  by  others, 
to  pursue  a  liberal  course  of  study.  His  advanced 
age,  together  with  an  ardent  desire  to  enter,  soon  as 
possible,  upon  active  life,  was  allowed  to  influence 
his  decision  unduly.  Cherishing  somewhat  errone- 
ous ideas  of  the  nature  of  a  true  culture, — ideas 
which  in  after  years  were  greatly  modified, — he 
believed  he  could  obtain  what  he  wanted  and  need- 
ed, in  the  way  of  discipline  and  actual  attainments, 
easier  and  better  by  foregoing  collegiate  priv- 
ileges. 

This  decision,  with  its  consequences  to  mind  and 
body,  he  regarded  in  his  mature  years  with  regret. 
During  the  entire  four  years  of  his  first  pastorate, 
at  Grafton,  he  buried  himself  in  his  books,  and  at- 
tempted by  intense  study  to  supply  what  a  limited 
attendance  upon  the  schools  had  denied.  It  can  not 
be  questioned  that  he  succeeded  in  gaining  a  more 
thorough  and  intelligent  acquaintance  with  English 
literature  than  the  graduates  of  colleges  usually 
reach,  and  a  wider  and  more  comprehensive  theo- 
logical knowledge  than  the  majority  of  graduates 
from  our  foremost  theological  seminaries,  but  his 
victory  was  won  at  too  great  a  cost. 


28  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

At  the  time  of  entering  his  pastorate  at  Olney- 
ville,  in  1852,  his  daily  hours  of  actual,  severe 
study  had  become  reduced,  by  mental  and  physical 
inability,  from  twelve  to  two.  This  lower  limit  he 
rarely,  afterward,  was  able  to  exceed,  although  his 
power  of  application,  in  the  easier  forms  of  literary 
service,  continued  for  many  years  the  day  long, 
save  in  time  of  actual  prostration.  His  after  life  of 
almost  continual  pain, — often  of  intense  suffering, — 
was  chiefly  born  of  the  unwise,  but  absorbing  devo- 
tion to  study  in  the  ten  years  succeeding  his  enter- 
ing Smithville  Seminary.  His  change  of  feeling 
with  reference  to  collegiate  education,  is  partly 
evinced  by  his  direction  of  the  life  of  his  son, 
whom,  at  no  small  sacrifice,  he  placed  within  the 
reach  of  college  privileges. 

Having  decided  to  enter  upon  a  course  of  theolog- 
ical study,  he  left  Smithville  in  the  spring  of  1845, 
and  entered  the  F.  Baptist  Theological  School  at 
Whitestown,  N.  Y.  His  examination  for  admission 
showed  an  independence  of  thought  which  was  well 
nigh  arraigned  by  one  of  the  examining  committee 
as  heresy.  It  was  certainly  an  advance  in  knowl- 
edge, and  power  of  thought,  beyond  what  had 
been  usually  witnessed  on  similar  occasions.  He 
became  not  only  a  student,  but  an  ornament  of  the 
school,  giving  it  new  acceptability  and  higher  rep- 


LIFE     AT    WHITESTOWN.  29 

utation    in   the    community   of   which  it    was   the 
center. 

Rev.  Dr.  Butler  speaks  of  his  "  marked  ability 
and  originality  of  thought."  "  Throughout  the 
course  of  study  he  was  diligent,  earnest,  courteous, 
and  eminently  successful.  My  remembrance  of 
him  in  the  class  -  room,  is  unexceptionally  pleasant 
and  endearing ;  he  commended  himself  to  other 
teachers  also,  and  to  the  students,  in  a  manner  to 
obtain  a  large  place  in  their  hearts.  " 

Thoroughness  and  promptness  characterized  his 
exercises  in  the  class  -  room ;  a  spirit  of  devotion 
and  activity  marked  his  attendance  upon  the  meet- 
ings for  prayer.  He  was  courteous  in  social  inter- 
course, free  from  sharpness  in  debate,  and  abstain- 
ed from  decided  expressions  of  approval  or  dis- 
pleasure. 

The  students  were  accustomed  to  hold  extempora- 
neous debates,  in  which  he  took  a  lively  interest. 
At  such  times  a  question  would  be  proposed,  and 
speakers  called  at  once  to  discuss  it.  His  im- 
promptu arguments  at  these  debates,  were  a  source 
of  constant  surprise  to  his  class  -  mates.  He  would 
open  the  question  systematically,  and  argue  with  a 
clearness  and  effective  rhetorical  arrangement  that 
seemed  the  fruit  of  long  study  upon  it.  His  lan- 
guage was  grammatical,  eloquent  and  forcible. 


30  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

"  The  critics  had  a  lean  subject  when  he  was  upon 
the  floor.  " 

For  a  number  of  years  he  held  substantially  the 
position  of  his  early  religious  guide,  Martin 
Cheney,  upon  the  Peace  question  :  that  all  wars  are 
wrong ;  that  armies  and  navies  are  excluded  by  the 
spirit  of  Christianity ;  that  Government  has  no  right 
to  resort  to  force  of  arms  to  restrain  vice  or  to 
punish  criminals ;  that  capital  punishment  is  totally 
unallowable ;  that  "  to  control,  or  attempt  to  control 
the  actions  of  men  by  a  resort  to  force,  is  a  practi- 
cal refusal  to  recognize  them  as  moral  beings.  " 

He  frequently  discussed  this  question  at  Whites- 
town  ;  and  having  studied  it  more  than  his  oppo- 
nents, he  maintained  his  position  to  their  discom- 
fiture. His  opinions  on  this  subject  were  either 
greatly  modified  or  abandoned,  as  he  came  in  more 
direct  and  serious  contact  with  questions  of  morals 
and  government,  especially  when  the  stern  logic  of 
events,  the  hand  of  Providence,  laid  the  fearful  is- 
sues of  life  and  death  before  the  nation,  at  the  in- 
auguration of  civil  strife. 

Toward  the  close  of  his  studies,  Nov.  4,  1846,  he 
delivered  an  address  of  signal  ability,  entitled  "The 
reign  of  Force  and  Reason,"  before  the  Rhetorical 
Society.  In  this,  his  Peace  principles  received  an 
ornate  setting,  and  somewhat  thorough  presentation. 


ADDRESSES     AT     WHITESTOWN.  31 

The  term  Reason  was  employed  by  him  in  its 
widest  sense,  to  denote  all  that  is  implied  in  the 
very  trite  phrase  :  "  moral  suasion."  We  introduce 
two  or  three  paragraphs  from  it,  to  illustrate  the 
beauty  and  strength  of  his  style  at  that  time,  rather 
than  the  course  of  argument  or  the  nature  of  his 
opinions  : 

"The  first  act  of  homage  was  paid  it,"  (the 
reign  of  Force)  "  when  the  earth  was  yet  young. 
'  And  Cain  talked  with  Abel  his  brother,  and  it 
came  to  pass,  that  when  they  were  in  the  field,  that 
Cain  rose  up  against  Abel  his  brother  and  slew 
him. '  He  talked  with  Abel ;  for  Reason  had  until 
now  equipped  him  with  his  implements  of  control ; 
but  he  abjured  her  mildness  in  his  passionate  heat, 
and  grasping  the  proffered  sword  of  Force,  sent  it 
quivering  to  his  brother's  heart. 

"  The  history  of  the  reign  of  Reason  is  sad,  not 
in  its  character,  but  in  its  brevity.  Not  an  age  has 

honored  it,  not  a  nation  has  welcomed  it It 

has  sometimes  peered  out,  amid  the  almost  univer- 
sal despotism  of  force,  most  lovingly  upon  the 
world,  showing  that  it  has  other  homes,  when  earth 
will  not  give  it  a  shelter.  ...  It  has  been  like  a 
lone  bright  star,  gazing  out  through  the  cloudy 
folds  of  midnight ;  like  a  rose  blooming  on  the 
bosom  of  winter ;  like  an  angel's  song  bursting  up 
from  the  heart  of  chaos. 

''If  the  natural  sympathies  of  your  renovated 
souls  had  instinctively  clung  around  the  sword  as 


32  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

the  great  instrument  of  social  blessing ;  if  they  had 
harmonized  with  the  reign  of  Force,  why  choose 
"Whitestown  rather  than  West  Point  as  the  place  of 
instruction?  Why  seek  skill  in  the  use  of  the 
Bible,  rather  than  the  pistol  and  scimetar?  Why 
covet  the  ornamental  graces  of  the  Spirit  rather 
than  sash  and  epaulette  ?  Why  gather  from  week  to 
week  for  logical,  rather  than  military  power?  Why 
cultivate  a  persuasive  eloquence  rather  than  a 
frightening  fury?  Those  belong  to  the  sway  of 
Reason,  these  are  essential  elements  in  the  reign  of 
Force." 

On  the  nineteenth  of  the  same  month,  he  also  ad- 
dressed the  "Society  of  Christian  Research,"  pre- 
senting, "  The  Christian  Scholar's  Mission."  He 
was  expecting  to  enter  upon  his  first  pas- 
torate two  weeks  later.  The  address,  there- 
fore, possesses  some  interest  as  indicating 
his  convictions  of  work  and  duty.  In  it  he  de- 
clares:  "  It  becomes  a  matter  of  less  importance 
what  functions  it  will  be  our  lot  to  discharge,  than 
how  we  shall  discharge  them."  A  sentiment  full  of 
meaning  as  he  afterward  translated  it  into  life. 
"  He  who  dignifies  his  office,  whatever  it  may  be, 
seldom  does  it  by  mere  accident.  .  .  .  It  is  the 
Christian  who  searches  most  deeply  and  earnestly 
into  the  things  of  God,  that  honors  best  his  high 
and  sacred  profession.  "  His  unremitting  efforts  to 
win  abiding  gains ;  his  utter  unwillingness  to  accept 


CLOSE     OF     STUDENT     LIFE.  33 

show  for  substance,  and  to  rest  upon  reputation 
rather  than  character,  show  that  the  young  candi- 
date for  the  pulpit  had  wrought  this  truth  into  his 
own  being,  before  it  gained  the  utterance  of  the 
tongue. 

With  similar  spirit  he  proceeds  to  say:  "The 
scholar's  obligations  are  commensurate  with  his 
power.  Every  scholar  has  his  specific  sphere  and 
his  specific  duties ;  a  sphere  and  a  class  of  duties, 
which,  so  to  speak,  are  created  by  his  scholarship. 
.  For  what  are  schools,  seminaries  and  col- 
leges established?  Not  to  twist  the  cords  of  caste 
but  to  sunder  them ;  not  to  disqualify  men  for  bear- 
ing a  part  among  the  multitudes  of  their  fellows,  but 
to  gird  them  with  higher  efficiency  for  this  very 
work  ;  not  to  break  off  their  fellowship  with  the  rest 
of  human  souls,  but  to  strengthen,  exalt  and  sancti- 
fy that  fellowship,  and  make  it  an  instrument  of 
universal  blessing.  " 

This  is  his  farewell  word,  spoken  at  the  close  of 
the  address,  to  those  with  whom  he  had  been  asso- 
ciated in  study :  "  Let  us  prosecute  our  work, 
whether  here  or  elsewhere,  now  and  hereafter,  with 
manly  fortitude  and  singleness  of  heart.  As  the 
night  is  doubly  welcome  to  the  weary  laborer,  so 
will  heaven  be  sweeter  after  the  toils  and  warfare  of 
a  faithful  life.  " 


34  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

In  the  eighteen  months  which  comprised  his  con- 
nection with  the  Theological  School,  he  had  com- 
pleted, to  the  satisfaction  of  the  faculty,  the  studies 
of  the  three  years'  course. 

This  chapter  has  attempted  to  reveal  some  of  the 
moulding  forces  of  his  life,  and  his  response  to  them 
in  the  forming  and  cherishing  of  purposes,  and 
choosing  his  field  of  service.  We  must  now  follow 
him  to  the  battle  -  field ;  to  the  tent  of  rest  by  the 
way-side  ;  to  heroic  endurance  ;  to  the  test  and  fruit- 
age of  early  choices  and  principles. 


II. 

IN  THE  MINISTRY. 


GRAFTON,    CHESTER,    OLNEYVILLE. 
1846—1857. 

ON  the  first  of  December,  1846,  he  entered  upon 
his  first  pastorate  with  a  church  of  sixty  mem- 
bers, in  the  quiet  village  of  Grafton,  Mass.  The 
stipulated  salary  was  $350  per  annum.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  the  second  year,  fearing  this  amount  was 
too  great  for  the  ability  of  the  parish,  he  requested 
that  it  might  be  reduced  to  $300. 

His  ordination  occurred  in  connection  with  a  ses- 
sion of  the  R.  I.  Quarterly  Meeting,  held  at  Olney- 
ville,  May  20,  1847  ;  Martin  Cheney  preaching  the 
sermon,  and  M.  W.  Burlingame  offering  the  prayer 
of  consecration. 

During  the  four  years  in  this  pastorate,  his  life 
was  almost  wholly  free  from  cares  beyond  the 


36  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

limits  of  his  parish.  He  was  cheered  and  helped  in 
very  significant  ways,  by  the  abundant  hospitality, 
the  kind  social  intercourse  and  confidence  of  his 
people.  Not  unfrequently  he  took  his  books  to 
the  woods,  or  chose  for  the  place  of  composing  his 
sermons,  some  rock  or  mossy  bank  by  the  stream. 
His  communion  with  nature  was  then,  as  always,  in- 
timate and  free,  and  she  readily  gave  back  to  him 
help  for  the  work  of  promoting  the  spiritual  life  of 
men,  and  refreshment  for  his  own  mind  and  heart. 

He  was  married  Dec.  23,  1846,  to  Miss  Frances 
L.  Green,  of  Lonsdale.  The  house  which  wel- 
comed them  was  most  frugally  furnished,  and  the 
books  which  aided  the  young  pastor  were  few  ;  yet 
he  always  spoke  of  this  beginning  with  the  greatest 
satisfaction,  and  from  amid  the  heat  and  pressure  of 
multiplied  cares  in  after  years,  often  looked  back 
upon  it  as  a  desert  traveler  upon  an  oasis  of  wav- 
ing palms  and  cooling  waters. 

His  coming  to  his  chosen  field  was  not  greeted 
with  special  enthusiasm.  Many  inquiries  were 
made  as  to  the  wisdom  of  the  choice  of  the  church, 
because  of  his  unprepossessing  personal  appearance  ; 
complexion  being  dark,  his  form  stooping,  and 
manner  suggesting  awkwardness.  But  prejudice  and 
doubt  quickly  vanished  as  he  earnestly  and  ably  ad- 
dressed himself  to  his  work.  The  first  two  years 


CLOSE  OF  LABORS  AT  GRAFTON.       37 

were  comparatively  barren  of  spiritual  results.  The 
last  two  years  were  blessed  by  a  number  of  conver- 
sions ;  and  the  house  of  worship  was  crowded  reg- 
ularly. On  pleasant,  mild  Sundays,  even  the  steps 
and  entrance  would  be  filled  with  eager  listeners. 

The  opening  of  the  year,  1848,  brought  to  the 
household  its  first  great  grief,  when  "  an  infant  of 
days,"  ascending,  bound  earth  to  heaven  with  strong- 
er bands.  Its  body  rests  beside  his  own  in  the  ceme- 
tery at  Mulberry  Grove,  a  place  which,  because 
of  the  presence  of  the  dust  of  that  little  form, 
and  of  his  own  prospective  resting  there,  he  called 
"  the  sweetest  spot  on  earth.  " 

His  pastorate  closed  October  29,  1850.  His  fare- 
well sermon,  proclaiming  "The  Duties  and  Rights  of 
Ministers,"  was  no  attempt  at  self-  defense  or  incul- 
pation of  the  people,  but  a  robust,  manly  presenta- 
tion of  the  mutual  relations  of  pulpit  and  pew.  The 
limits  of  these  pages  allow  only  brief  extracts  from 
it: 

"  //  ts  the  duty  of  the  minister  to  give  instruction 
in  the  great  doctrines  and  duties  of  the  Gospel. 
To  teach,  or  rather  to  interpret  and  illustrate  God's 
teachings,  is  his  primary  work.  Whatever  else  he 
ma^  do,  if  he  does  not  dismiss  his  congregation  to 
their  homes  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath,  with  new 
means  of  wisdom  and  clearer  views  of  duty,  he  and 
his  labors  must  be  found  wanting. 


38  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

4 '  They  mistake  the  character  of  the  Gospel  sad- 
ly, who  suppose  that  it  comprises  only  a  few  com- 
mon -  place  ideas  connected  with  the  salvation  of 
men.  It  has  these,  certainly,  shining  out  glorious- 
ly and  distinctly  on  its  surface,  so  that  even  the 
weakest  may  learn  the  methods  and  the  means  of 
redemption.  But  no  minister  whose  opportunities 
and  capacities  enable  him  to  look  from  the  surface 
to  the  interior  of  a  truth,  from  a  principle  to  its 
modes  of  application,  can  be  justified  in  simply  re- 
peating these  general  truths  from  week  to  week 
and  from  year  to  year,  investing  them  with  no  new 
meaning,  and  giving  them  no  new  application. 

"Is  it  objected  that  these  are  the  great  funda- 
mental truths  of  the  Gospel,  and  should  therefore 
be  constantly  insisted  on?  My  reply  is  that  this 
suggests  a  reason  why  they  should  not  occupy  ex- 
clusive attention.  A  wise  builder  does  not  work 
forever  on  his  foundation.  He  has  the  building 
still  to  erect  above  it,  and  the  value  of  that  founda- 
tion is  estimated  in  proportion  as  it  meets  the  wants 
of  the  structure  above  it.  The  alphabet  is  the  foun- 
dation of  learning,  but  a  wise  and  faithful  teacher 
does  not  always  keep  his  pupils  repeating  it.  And 
so  the  inculcation  of  these  primary  truths  in  Chris- 
tianity has  reference,  in  a  wise  minister's  labors,  to 
the  noble  and  godlike  character  he  seeks,  by  wider 
teaching,  to  rear  upon  them. — Is  it  said  that  Paul 
knew  nothing  among  men  save  Jesus  Christ  and 
Him  crucified,  and  therefore  his  successors  should 
be  satisfied  with  following  his  example?  I  ask 


FAREWELL    SERMON    AT    GRAFTON.  39 

what  did  Paul  mean  by  this  language?  That 
his  mission  should  be  confined  to  the  simple 
announcement  that  Christ  died  for  the  world's 
salvation?  Not  at  all.  Take  up  any  of  his 
discourses  recorded  in  the  Acts ;  or  follow  him 
through  his  epistles  to  the  churches,  and  his  com- 
prehensive meaning  will  soon  be  learned.  The 
cross  is  the  central  truth  in  his  system  of  teaching  ; 
but  he  shows  it  sustaining  relations  broad  as  the 
universe  and  vast  as  eternity.  He  makes  it  link  it- 
self with  the  soul's  highest  destiny,  and  with  all  the 
facts  of  human  history,  and  with  all  the  hopes  and 
passions  of  human  hearts.  It  takes  a  firm  step  and 
a  strong  head  to  follow  him  over  the  dizzy  heights 
of  wisdom  he  traverses.  Now  he  welds  an  argu- 
ment with  the  strength  of  steel ;  now  he  throws  an 
all  comprehensive  truth  into  an  epigram  ;  and  then 
with  a  burst  of  imagination,  he  flashes  light  upon  a 
vast  field  of  inquiry,  where  all  was  dark  and  unin- 
telligible before. 

"  It  is  strange  that  Paul's  example  should  ever  be 
quoted  in  support  of  barrenness  in  pulpit  teaching. 
Never  was  there  better  illustration  of  his  own  pre- 
cept :  '  Therefore  leaving  the  principles  of  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ,  let  us  go  on  to  perfection.' 

"  Whatever  else  you  may  forget  or  neglect  of  my 
teachings,  do  not  forget  nor  neglect  that  part  of 
them  by  which  you  have  been  urged  to  receive  and 
study  the  Bible  as  the  inspired  word  of  God ;  that 
part  which  has  aimed  to  show  the  importance  of  a 
living,  trustful  sympathy  with  Christ." 


40  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

While  at  Grafton  he  composed  his  sermons  with 
great  care,  usually  writing  them  out  with  considera- 
ble fullness.  They  were  marked  by  carefulness  in 
expression,  and  elegance  of  style.  He  devoted 
special  labor  to  the  preparation  of  his  illustrations ; 
appreciating  the  value  of  complete,  definite  pict- 
ures, which  should  lose  nothing  of  effect  from  lack 
of  fitness  or  from  imperfect  finish.  This  early  hab- 
it reveals  not  a  little  of  the  secret  of  the  masterly 
use  of  illustrations  which  attended  the  maturity  of 
his  powers.  He  also  gave  careful  study  to  the  con- 
clusions of  his  sermons ;  not  satisfied  to  leave  them 
wholly,  nor  chiefly,  to  the  working  of  his  mind  at 
the  moment  of  delivery.  He  could  never  be  ac- 
cused of  a  rambling,  pointless,  ineffective  close. 
There  was  a  reserving  of  strength,  a  hiding  of  re- 
sources for  the  final  declaraCion  of  the  discourse, 
which  made  it  the  culmination  of  thought  and  elo- 
quence. 

In  an  essay  read  before  the  R.  I.  Minister's  Con- 
ference, near  the  close  of  his  labors  at  Grafton,  he 
says:  "  It  is  claimed  that  the  preacher  should  fol- 
low his  tendencies,  whether  they  be  natural  or  ac- 
quired ;  that  '  he  must  be  like  himself,'  '  maintain 
his  individuality,'  forgetting  that  he  may  be  like 
himself,-  may  be  individual,  and  yet  have  a  culti- 
vated style.  If'  he  cultivate  himself,  as  he  certainly 
should,  his  style  will  be  like  him.  Cultivation  of 


MENTAL     HABITS.  4! 

mind  and  of  style  go  hand  in  hand.  The  style  of 
the  pulpit  should  be  the  purest  possible,  but  fre- 
quently instead,  as  once  when  the  sons  of  God 
were  assembled,  Satan  is  found  also." 

Among  a  thousand  sketches  of  sermons  written 
subsequently  to  this  pastorate,  there  is  rarely  one 
covering  more  than  a  sheet  of  note  paper.  Hard 
study  accompanied  his  early  written  productions, 
whether  essays  or  sermons.  It  is  not  easy  to  think 
of  him  spending,  as  he  once  declared,  four  hours  of 
study  upon  the  composition  of  half  a  page  of  manu- 
script, or  a  week  upon  a  single  sheet.  Those  valu- 
able qualities  of  speech  which  signalized  his  last 
years,  were  not  the  result  of  genius,  nor  gained 
without  difficult  struggles. 

On  being  asked  if  he  ever  experienced  difficulty 
in  finding  words  to  clothe  his  thought,  he  would  re- 
ply :  "  Not  the  least;  the  chief  task  is  to  choose  the 
most  fitting  of  those  words  which  present  them- 
selves." With  him  this  very  facility  of  expression 
was  an  element  to  be  controlled  and  guided. 
Readiness  in  the  use  of  language,  this  "  almost 
fatal  facility  of  words,"  as  one  fitly  describes  it,  has 
proved  disastrous  to  multitudes  as  gifted  as  he. 
But  we  find  in  him  no  resting  in  the  ready  tongue 
and  quick  utterance ;  language  must  embody 
thought  and  be  the  vehicle  of  real  spiritual  forces. 


42  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

His  abiding,  resolute  choice  of  unfaltering  serv- 
ice, forbade  dependence  upon  a  readiness  of  ex- 
pression that  might  seem  likely  to  retain  acceptabil- 
ity with  his  audience. 

Great  as  was  the  promise  of  the  opening  of  his 
career,  he  was  saved  from  comparative  uselessness 
and  obscurity,  by  the  spirit  which  entered  into  his 
labors.  He  scorned  subterfuge  and  formality,  and 
strove  to  make  his  work  stand  not  in  the  sight  of 
men,  but  of  God.  His  conscience  was  kept  too 
keen  to  allow  him  to  attempt  a  sonorous  utterance, 
rather  than  a  thoughtful,  self-denying  helpfulness. 
The  decisive,  telling  utterances  of  his  later  years 
had  been  impossible  without  these  qualities. 

One  substantial  proof  of  his  strength  of  mind  and 
the  nobility  of  his  nature,  is  exhibited  by  his  steady 
development  in  precision  of  statement,  terseness  of 
expression  and  weight  of  thought.  A  feeble,  unhe- 
roic  nature  would  have  given  over  the  severe  strug- 
gle ;  fallen  back  upon  some  fancied  superiority  of 
mind,  or  upon  a  fluent  utterance,  and  missed  the 
grandeur  of  a  life  of  self-  sacrificing  toil. 

Continuing  to  supply  the  pulpit  at  Grafton  until 
the  close  of  December,  he  accepted  in  the  begin- 
ning of  January  following,  an  invitation  to  visit 
Ohio  and  preach  as  his  services  might  be  sought  by 
the  churches.  He  then  became  acquainted  with 
the  church  in  Chester,  acceptably  supplying  its  pul-. 


REVIVAL    WORK    IN     OHIO.  43 

pit  for  several  Sundays  in  the  absence  of  the  pastor, 
But  the  chief  event  connected  with  this  tour,  was 
a  series  of  meetings  held  with  the  church  at  Greens- 
burg,  where  some  religious  interest  had  been  ob- 
served and  promoted,  previous  to  his  arrival.  He 
cheerfully  accepted  the  invitation  of  the  pastor  to 
aid  him  by  preaching  a  single  sermon.  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  services  it  was  felt  that  the  interest 
had  received  a  specially  needed  help  and  direction. 
He  responded  to  what  seemed  an  indication  of 
Providence,  by  preaching  nearly  every  evening  for 
three  weeks,  when  he  was  compelled  by  exhausted 
strength  to  give  the  work  up  to  other  human  hands. 
A  number  of  conversions  resulted  from  the  meetings. 
This  large  draft  upon  his  resources  was,  of 
course,  wholly  unexpected,  and  found  him  in  a 
measure  unprepared.  He  had  not  studied  the  nat- 
ure of  his  work  in  vain,  nor  did  his  heart  lack  vital 
sympathy  with  Christ  and  regard  for  the  salvation 
of  men.  There  had  been  a  deep  and  true  founda- 
tion for  enduring  power,  laid  in  mind  and  heart. 
He  yearned  to  win  triumphs  for  Christ,  in  the  wisest, 
most  self-  sacrificing  ways,  and  his  desire  had  not 
been  wholly  disappointed.  Still  there  was  needed 
a  special  vitalizing  of  waiting  forces, — the  stirring 
of  valuable  soul  -  depths,  to  reveal  the  man,  the 
Christian  and  the  minister. 


44  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

Fortunately  for  him  and  the  world,  the  needful 
quickening  was  not  long  to  be  missed  from  his  life. 
He  was  thrown  by  these  revival  meetings,  upon  his 
own  resources,  as  never  before.  The  few  sketches 
of  sermons  which  he  had  brought  from  home,  soon 
failed  to  serve  as  guides  to  thought,  or  helps  in  em- 
barrassment. He  was  then  in  no  little  anxiety  over 
the  question  :  "  How  is  it  possible  that  I  can  contin- 
uously feed  and  guide  this  people  ?"  He  was  com- 
pelled to  abandon  the  methods  and  routine  of  labor 
to  which  he  had  been  quite  closely  bound ;  and  as 
never  before,  was  brought  in  contact  with  the 
active  forces  and  immediate  power  of  the  Gospel. 
His  preaching  at  once  exhibited  marked  improve- 
ment. He  had  formerly  spoken  with  a  small  voice 
without  much  emphasis  or  force ;  but  now  his 
whole  nature  was  roused ;  his  eye  began  to  kindle 
with  that  significant  light  which  afterward  became 
of  rare  power  to  magnetize  and  inspire  his  audi- 
ences; his  spiritual  life  became  clearer  and  more 
vitalizing;  and  his  voice  ever  after  exhibited 
greater  flexibility,  volume  and  power.  Theory  had 
become  transformed  into  life  ;  the  man  stood  forth 
in  the  light  of  a  new  revelation;  the  secret  of 
preaching  power  was  more  fully  revealed  to  him, 
and  the  elements  of  pastoral  success  more  intelli- 
gently comprehended. 


LABORS     IN     CHESTER.  45 

In  April,  1851,  he  became  Principal  of  Geauga 
Seminary,  a  young  and  promising  institution  at 
Chester,  Ohio ;  he  also  assumed  the  duties  of  pas- 
tor of  the  church  at  that  place.  A  previous  ac- 
quaintance prepared  the  way  for  the  hearty  welcome 
which  was  accorded  him  ;  and  high  hopes  were  en- 
tertained of  his  ability  to  give  the  school  and  the 
church  added  prosperity.  But  he  had  scarcely  ar- 
rived and  signified  anew  his  cheerful  acceptance  of 
these  trusts,  before  he  was  prostrated  by  an 
illness  which  threatened  his  life.  For  several 
weeks  his  friends  were  without  hope  of  his  recov- 
ery, until  at  length,  the  hour  of  dissolution  seeming 
near,  preparations  were  partially  made  for  the 
proper  transportation  of  his  body  to  the  East  for 
burial. 

On  Sunday  Christians  met  in  the  church  and 
much  prayer'was  offered  in  his  behalf.  On  their 
return  to  the  house  he  was  rational,  and  expressed 
great  ecstacy  of  soul.  "  Have  they  not  been  pray- 
ing for  me  down  at  the  church?"  said  he.  "  I  feel 
as  if  they  had,  and  I  have  seen  angels,  oh,  such 
beautiful  angels,  all  around  me  and  in  the  sky." 
He  expressed  firm  belief  that  he  should  recover, 
and  at  once  began  to  amend. 

He  recovered  from  this  illness  only  in  season  to 
be  present  at  the  graduating  exercises,  July  i.  He 


46  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

remained  in  Chester  until  the  close  of  the  next  aca- 
demical year ;  both  church  and  seminary  having, 
meanwhile,  been  blessed  with  cheering  growth. 

The  death  of  Martin  Cheney,  Jan.  4,  1852,  left 
the  Olneyville  church  without  a  pastor.  From  the 
beginning  of  his  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Day,  Mr. 
Cheney  had  cherished  toward  him  great  admiration 
and  ardent  affection ;  and  often  declared  that  no 
common  career  awaited  him.  It  was  also  his  ex- 
press wish  that  Mr.  Day  might  be  called  to  be  his 
successor.  Responding  to  its  own  favorable  im- 
pressions and  the  known  desire  of  Mr.  Cheney,  the 
church  at  Olneyville,  soon  after  his  death,  summon- 
ed Mr.  Day  to  its  pastorate.  At  about  the  same 
time  he  received  from  Hillsdale(then  Michigan  Cen- 
tral) College  an  appointment  to  the  chair  of  Rhet- 
oric and  Latin. 

He  decided  to  accept  the  call  to  Olneyville,  and 
accordingly  entered  upon  his  labors  in  July,  1852. 

Amid  the  numerous  and  pressing  duties  of  this 
large  pastoral  field,  he  entered  upon  the  fulfillment 
of  a  promise  made  to  Mr.  Cheney  more  than  two 
years  before,  that  he  would  become,  in  the  event  of 
Mr.  C.'s  death,  his  biographer.  This  work,  per- 
formed at  no  slight  disadvantage,  but  in  a  manner 
creditable  to  his  literary  abilities,  his  power  of  dis- 
crimination, and  his  reverent  affection,  was  publish- 


SUCCEEDS     MARTIN    CHENEY.  47 

ed  in  the  following  December.  In  the  preface  he 
says:  "Unfitted  as  I  might  have  felt  for  such  a 
task,  I  could  not  refuse  to  comply  with  his  request, 
when  I  saw  that  his  heart  was  strongly  set  on  such 
an  arrangement." 

Not  only  was  the  admiration  of  Mr.  Cheney  re- 
ciprocated by  Mr.  Day,  but  he  possessed  a  keen 
appreciation  of  the  peculiar  character  of  the  man 
whom  he  was  called  to  present,  by  virtue  of  the  in- 
trinsic qualities  of  his  own  mind  and  heart.  He 
had  not  less  courage  than  Mr.  Cheney,  but  more 
persistence ;  not  less  independence,  but  more  cau- 
tion;  not  less  self-reliance,  but  more  self-control. 

He  entered  upon  his  pastorate  with  sanguine  ex- 
pectations. He  came  as  no  novice  in  pulpit  and 
parish  work,  but  ripened  in  judgment,  and  assured 
by  the  success  which  had  recently  attended  his 
methods  of  toil,  and  possessed  of  an  encouraging 
amount  of  mental  and  bodily  vigor.  His  capacity 
for  application  to  severe  study  had,  indeed,  been 
greatly  reduced,  yet,  in  the  briefer  period  allowed 
him,  he  was  able  to  perform  more  than  a  propor- 
tionate amount  of  work,  because  of  his  retentive 
memory,  his  systematic  habits  of  study,  and  espe- 
cially his  thorough,  exact  discipline. 

His  ambition,  in  a  healthful  way,  received  a 
powerful  stimulus  from  his  new  position.  The 


4.8  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

name  of  Martin  Cheney  had  become  significant  not 
merely  in  Olneyville,  but  in  the  adjoining  city,  and 
in  the  denomination  at  large.  The  Olneyville 
church,  in  numbers,  social  standing,  wealth  and  in- 
fluence then  stood  at  the  head  of  the  R.  I. 
churches.  He  was  not  likely  to  be  unimpressed  by 
all  these  circumstances.  The  work  which  had  prov- 
identially fallen  to  him  was  accepted  with  modest 
courage  and  a  self-  depreciating,  yet  hopeful  spirit. 
There  was  intelligent  Christian  stability  recognized 
in  the  existing  membership ;  a  large  number  of 
promising  youth  were  either  actually  attending  the 
sanctuary,  or  likely,  with  proper  efforts,  to  be  won  to 
it;  there  were,  too,  many  enterprising  young  men 
of  business,  whom  he  hoped  to  win  for  Christ. 

The  first  communion  Sunday  yielded  him  no 
little  satisfaction  and  encouragement,  as  two  candi- 
dates presented  themselves  for  baptism.  It  was  to 
him,  as  he  said,  "  a  binding  of  the  sheaves"  which 
had  been  matured  by  his  predecessor.  Nearly  every 
one  of  the  first  twelve  months  witnessed  anew 
the  stirring  of  the  baptismal  waters,  and  valuable 
accessions  to  the  membership  ;  and  with  each  occa- 
sion his  heart  acknowledged  afresh  its  early  hopes, 
and  hastened  with  heightened  joy  to  fulfill  them. 
Within  this  time  thirty  persons  were  admitted  by 
baptism.  The  8th  of  May  he  declared  to  be  one  of 


METHODS  OF  WORK  AT  OLNEYVILLE.     49 

the  happiest  days  of  his  life,  when  four  young  men 
were  among  the  number  gathered  into  the  Christian 
fold. 

He  did  not  shrink  from  inaugurating  such  new 
methods  of  church  work  as  seemed  to  promise  sub- 
stantial advantages,  while  endeavoring  to  impart  ad- 
ditional vigor  to  those  already  accepted.  Sunday 
school  concerts  received  considerable  attention,  and 
were  made  attractive  and  profitable ;  a  Friday  even- 
ing Bible  class  was  organized,  and  he  became  its 
efficient  and  instructive  teacher.  Not  a  little 
through  his  influence  and  co  -  operation,  attendance 
upon  the  school  was  greatly  increased,  averaging, 
during  one  of  the  years,  nearly  three  hundred. 
The  meetings  for  prayer  yielded  less  readily  to  his 
wish  and  effort,  but  he  steadily  strove  to  make  them 
occasions  for  impressing  the  practical,  vital  forms  of 
Christian  duty  upon  the  membership,  and  upon  the 
unconverted.  A  well  filled  lecture  -  room  regularly 
greeted  him  at  the  hour  of  prayer,  on  Sunday  even- 
ing ;  the  great  majority  of  those  in  attendance  not 
being  Christians,  he  often  attempted  to  set  before 
them  the  claims  of  the  Gospel  by  a  brief,  informal 
sermon,  which,  in  flow  of  sympathies  and  quick, 
cogent  reasoning,  was  the  climax  of  the  day's  min- 
isterial toil. 

It  was  remarked  how  easily  he  secured  the  con- 


JJO  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

sent  of  others  to  engage  in  the  public  exercises  of 
Missionary  and  Sunday  school  concerts,  making 
them  feel  honored,  even,  by  being  allpwed  to  bear 
a  part  in  the  service  designated  ;  the  younger  with 
the  older,  responding  readily  to  the  magnetic  in- 
fluence of  his  word  and  example. 

Not  a  few  persons  can  testify  to  his  happy  faculty 
in  discovering  latent  talent,  and  his  attempts  to  de- 
velop it.  Others  can  speak  of  the  skill  with  which 
.he  reached  a  dormant  or  latent  interest  in  the 
Gospel,  and  its  practical  work  for  the  soul.  A  num- 
ber of  those  who  united  with  the  church  in  the  first 
year  of  his  pastorate,  had  been  quickened  under  the 
preaching  of  Mr.  Cheney,  but  awaited  another 
hand  to  lead  them  to  the  light.  He  challenged  no 
comparison  of  his  labors  with  those  of  his  predeces- 
.sor,  but  rather,  when  the  words  and  acts  of  the  lat- 
ter were  extolled,  he  was  a  pleased  and  unprejudic- 
ed listener. 

Some  of  the  present  teachers  in  the  Olneyville 
Sunday  school  readily  recall,  with  a  thrill  of 
pleasure  yet,  his  eye  resting  upon  them  in  encour- 
.aging  sympathy  as  he  used  to  walk  slowly  through 
the  aisles  of  the  lecture -room  during  the  session, 
•and  can  feel  his  presence  still,  as  he  sat  down  unob- 
trusively, quietly,  beside  them  to  utter  words  of 
•cheer  for  their  own  hearts  or  of  Christian  love  and 


SUNDAY     EVENING     LECTURES.  51 

helpfulness  to  their  scholars.  How  he  was  felt, 
when  he  entered  the  vestry  door,  almost  before  we 
saw  him,  or  knew  by  his  voice  that  it  was  he  I  He 
was  recognized  by  the  school  as  its  watchful  guardian 
and  personal  friend  ;  contact  with  its  life  he  felt  to 
be  a  necessary  help  to  the  succeeding  pulpit  ser- 
vices of  the  morning. 

With  the  hope  of  reaching  with  religious  truth, 
many  who  did  not  attend  regular  Sunday  worship, 
he  gave  a  course  of  lectures  on  Sunday  evenings  to 
young  people.  Beginning  them  modestly  in  the 
lecture  -  room,  the  large  attendance  compelled 
the  use  thereafter  of  the  audience  room  of  the 
church, — even  the  natural  seating  capacity  of  the 
latter  proving  insufficient.  On  such  occasions  he 
treated  some  practical  question  of  public  or  private 
morals,  in  much  the  same  way,  (only  less  formally,) 
as  in  the  usual  Sunday  services.  The  interest  in 
these  lectures  culminated,  in  some  instances  at 
least,  in  a  practical  Christian  life,  while  many 
others' acknowledged  their  reforming  power.  En- 
couraged by  these  results,  he  gave  a  similar  course 
in  the  following  winter ;  and,  several  years  after, 
another,  while  pastor  of  the  Roger  Williams  church, 
of  like  value  and  profit. 

The  opening  year  of  this  pastorate  witnessed  con- 
siderable pastoral  visiting,  and  it  was  his  desire  to 


52  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

equal,  if  not  to  exceed  the  amount  of  it,  year  by 
year;  but  he  was  now  to  become,  in  no  ordinary 
sense,  the  honored  and  laborious  servant  of  others  be- 
yond the  limits  of  his  parish.  He  was  called  to 
frequent  service  in  the  neighboring  city,  and  also  to 
promote,  in  various  important  ways,  the  interests  of 
the  denomination  at  large.  Burdens  were  thus 
pressed  upon  him  which  he  knew  not  how  to  refuse, 
nor  yet,  sometimes,  consistently  with  parish  duties, 
how  to  accept.  The  number  of  his  public  address- 
es, at  home  and  abroad,  reached  one  hundred  and 
fifty  annually.  He  attended  fifty  funerals  each 
year,  and  engaged  in  many  lesser  forms  of  Chris- 
tian labor. 

In  the  spring  of  1849,  he  introduced  at  the  R.  I. 
Quarterly  Meeting,  a  resolution  favoring  the  publi- 
cation of  a  Review  which  should  represent  denomi- 
national enterprise  and  tenets  to  the  world,  develop 
literary  talent,  and  minister,  in  the  higher  forms,  to 
intellectual  and  spiritual  life  within  the  denomina- 
tion. About  the  first  of  October  following,  a  call 
was  issued  in  the  Morning  Star,  for  a  convention 
to  consider  the  propriety  of  publishing  a  "Quarterly 
Review ;"  the  call  being  signed  by  fourteen  clergy- 
men,— G.  T.  Day  being  one  of  the  number.  The 
convention  met  at  the  time  of  the  Anniversaries,  at 
Great  Falls,  Oct.  16,  and  decided  to  attempt  the  pub- 


CONNECTION    WITH    F.    BAPTIST    QUARTERLY.     53 

lication  of  the  Review  which  was  afterward  known 
as  the  Freewill  Baptist  Quarterly.  Mr.  Day  was 
made  one  of  the  editorial  council  of  five,  to  which 
the  literary  and  financial  management  was  entrust- 
ed. The  complete  arrangements  were  not  made 
until  the  fall  of  1852.  On  the  first  of  January, 
1853,  it  was  published  at  Providence,  by  "Williams, 
Day  &  Co.,"  and  by  "  Houlston  &  Co.,"  London, 
England. 

The  publication  and  literary  management  of  the 
Quarterly  threw  upon  him,  for  sixteen  years,  great, 
and  sometimes  very  pressing  burdens.  His  contri- 
butions were  of  a  high  order  and  permanent  worth, 
constituting  valuable  additions  to  our  denominational 
literature.  After  the  editor,  Rev.  D.  M.  Graham,  he 
was  the  principal  working  force  and  sustainer  of  the 
Quarterly.  Half  the  book  notices  were  his ;  one, 
two,  and  sometimes  three  articles  in  a  number, 
would  be  his  ;  the  general  editorial  supervision  he 
shared  equally  with  the  editor. 

The  promotion  of  this  literary  enterprise  marked 
his  first  attendance  at  the  larger  denominational 
gatherings.  He  became  at  once  an  active,  earnest 
participator  in  the  discussions  and  other  public  ex- 
ercises of  that  anniversary  week.  And,  as  after 
years  found  him  almost  invariably  present  on  like 
occasions,  they  found  him  also  bearing  in  them  a 


54  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

more    prominent    part,    and    accepting    new    and 
greater  responsibilities. 

Soon  after  his  coming  to  Olneyville,  it  became 
apparent  that  the  house  of  worship  was  too  small 
to  furnish  sufficient  sittings  for  those  who  sought  to 
attend  Sunday  services.  The  question  of  erecting 
a  new  and  larger  church  edifice,  was  generally  and 
earnestly  discussed  at  intervals,  between  the  winter 
of  1852, — '3,  and  the  spring  of  1854,  w^tn  varying 
encouragement  and  disappointment ;  at  the  latter 
date  it  was  practically  abandoned  as  a  financial  im- 
possibility. In  his  second  anniversary  sermon, 
1854,  ne  said : 

"  One  phase  of  our  work,  that  which  respects  a 
new  house,  I  may  speak  of.  The  subject  is  dis- 
missed for  the  time  from  parish  consideration.  1 
appreciate  the  difficulties,  but  I  have  my  doubts 
whether  lcan  not  *  is  the  word  to  be  used  when  set- 
tling your  policy.  In  a  few  words  I  will  tell  you 
frankly  the  aspects  it  presents  to  my  own  mind. 

"  The  society  itself  is  not  accommodated.  Many 
members  of  the  church  feel  positively  excluded. 
Many  are  all  ready,  and  waiting  for  the  opportunity 
to  give  their  help  when  it  can  be  done  without  seem- 
ing intrusive.  Souls  about  us  hunger  for  the  bread 
of  life,  and  can  not  obtain  room  in  the  house  of 
worship  if  they  would.  There  are  many  who  at- 
tend nowhere,  and  with  a  little  effort  could,  under 
proper  circumstances,  be  gathered  in.  The  Sun- 


EFFORTS     FOR    A    NEW     HOUSE     OF     WORSHIP.     55 

day  school  is  crowded  and  overflows  its  limits, 
while  multitudes  of  children  are  left  to  neglect. 

"  The  entire  field  is  by  the  providence  of  God 
placed  at  your  disposal,  and  for  its  spiritual  welfare 
you  are  made  responsible.  The  pressure  can  never 
be  expected  to  be  stronger  ;  the  longer  it  is  resisted 
the  less  inclination  will  there  be  to  yield  to  it.  Neg- 
lect a  duty  and  it  will  be  questioned  whether  it  be  a 
duty.  It  will  cost  something  to  build  now,  it  always 
will  cost  something.  To  refuse  to  build  is 
certainly  nurturing  a  narrow,  selfish,  unenterpris- 
ing spirit  that  looks  dark  for  the  future.  Better  die 
now,  honorably,  than  here  to  drag  out  a  lingering 
death.  Certainly  a  narrow,  illiberal  policy  will 
doom  us." 

With  him  this  question  assumed  vital  proportions, 
freighted  with  the  highest  welfare  of  the  society 
and  that  of  many  souls  dependent  upon  its  saving 
influences.  The  village  was  rapidly  extending  its 
borders,  the  population  continually  increasing  be- 
cause of  the  recent  establishment  of  great  business 
enterprises.  The  field  had  been  nobly  won 
and  tilled  by  Mr.  Cheney  ;  its  sympathies  were  with 
the  doctrines  and  work  of  the  church  ;  and  it  was  a 
crushing  blow  to  his  ardent  hopes  and  spiritual 
longings  when  a  conservative,  timid  policy  was  al- 
lowed to  prevail.  The  matter  was  practically 
dropped  throughout  the  remainder  of  his  pastorate. 
This  decision  was  the  first  great  public  disappoint- 


^6  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

ment  which  he  was  called  to  bear.  That  it  should 
not  seriously  diminish  his  hopefulness,  dampen  his 
enthusiasm,  and  therefore  affect  his  bodily  health, 
was  simply  impossible. 

A  visit  to  the  New  Hampshire  Yearly  Meeting, 
in  1854,  was  made  memorable  by  his  sermon,  a 
copy  of  which  is  found  in  these  pages,  at  the  dedi- 
cation of  a  new  house  of  worship  at  New  Hampton. 
The  interest  during  its  delivery  was,  at  times,  in- 
tense. It  was  observed  that  Deacon  Dudley  was,  at 
any  moment,  liable  to  uncommon  demonstrations. 
These  were  restrained,  however,  until  after  the 
benediction,  when  he  shouted,  as  he  alone  could 
shout,  "  Glory,  glory,  glory  !"  The  retiring  au- 
dience was  startled,  many  were  alarmed,  thinking 
that  some  calamity  had  befallen,  but  after  those 
three  shouts  all  was  calm  again. 

His  first  serious,  protracted  physical  prostration 
at  Olneyville,  occurred  in  the  summer  of  1855  ;  for 
a  number  of  weeks  he  sought  strength  and  rest  on 
the  eastern  shore  of  Narraganset  Bay,  at  a  retired 
spot  of  great  natural  beauty,  about  three  miles  be- 
low Providence.  Amid  "  influences  that  teach, 
chasten  and  soothe,"  the  ministry  of  the  sea  that  "  is 
never  spent,  its  lessons  never  fully  learned,  its 
litany  never  completed,"— he  addressed  to  his 
church  these  sweet  lines,  which  he  calls 


REST     BY     THE     SEA     SHORE.  57 

AN    INVALID    PASTOR'S    SABBATH    MUSING. 

The  distant  bells,  whose  tones  fall  faint  around  me, 

Reclining  on  the  sod, 
Rouse  up  my  spirit  from  the  spell  that's  bound  me, 

And  say  "Come,  worship  God." 

In  the  dim  distance  graceful  spires  are  pointing 

Up  to  the  deep  blue  heaven ; 
And  reverent  souls  go  forth  to  the  anointing 

Which  in  God's  house  is  given. 

Gladly  my  feet  would  hasten  to  the  portal 

So  often  passed  in  peace, 
And,  feasting  on  the  word  of  life  immortal, 

Seek  there  the  Father's  face. 

Back  from  the  temple  where  tried  friends  and  cherished, 

In  by-gone  Sabbath  days, 
Cemented  heart-bonds  that  have  never  perished, 

Mid  prayer,  and  song,  and  praise ; — 

Thence  come  remembr  >nces  that  wake  up  yearning, 

And  make  my  eyes  grow  dim ; 
And  thither  even  n»w  my  ear  is  turning, 

To  catch  the  Sabbath  hymn. 

Again  within  that  pulpit  I  am  sitting, 

Calmed  by  the  organ's  swell ; 
Before  my  eyes  familiar  forms  are  flitting, 

Each  face — I  know  it  well. 

Now  clear  and  sweet  the  grateful  psalm  seems  pouring 

Its  melody  abroad, 
And  now  in  prayer  the  soul  is  upward  soaring, 

Craving  the  help  of  God. 

But  when  my  trembling  lips  the  text  has  parted, 
And  winds  take  up  the  tone, 


58  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

Then  breaks  the  dream — th'  illusion  has  departed, 
And  I  am  here — alone ! 

The  city  bells  have  ceased  their  Sabbath  calling, 

Fresh  breezes  round  me  play, 
The  sea's  soft  mmmur  on  my  ear  is  falling, 

Then  softly  dies  away. 

Alone  ! — jet  Nature  is  God's  habitation, 

The  clouds  Lis  robes  of  light, 
The  winds  his  messengers — the  best  oblation 

Are  pure  hearts  in  his  sight. 

To  the  true  soul  that  bows  itself  in  meekness, 

Or  lifts  itself  to  sing, 
All  holy  beings  come  to  aid  its  weakness, — 

All  blessings  to  it  bring. 

Within  deep  dungeons  heavenly  light  comes  flaming, 
When  Faith  kneels  there  to  pray ; 

And  voiceless  solitud  s  hear  heavm  proclaiming, 
Redemption  on  its  way. 

And  thus  my  spirit  bows  itse'fin  meekness 

Here  by  this  beetling  rock, 
And  ci'ies,  "  Come  near  me  in  this  hour  of  weakness, 

Great  Shepherd  of  the  flock." 

And  then  my  heart  flings  off  its  load  of  sadness, 

And  feels  no  more  of  fear  ; 
For,  as  of  old,  is  heard  the  word  with  gladness, 

"  Look  up,  for  I  am  near." 

Then  flame  the  skies  with  a  celestial  brightness ; 

The  ripples  of  the  sea 
Lift  to  the  breeze  their  liquid  lips  of  whiteness — 

All  things  bring  joy  to  me. 

My  prostrate  frame  renews  its  strength  while  sharing 
These  gifts  of  heavenly  love, 


REVISITS    OHIO.  59 

And  seems  anew  beneath  Heaven's  smile  preparing 
Its  gratitude  to  prove. 

Not  less  is  prized  the  wonted  Sabbath  meeting 
With  God's  dear  friends  and  mine; — 

Stored  in  the  memory  is  each  heartfelt  greeting, 
Shared  in  the  by-gone  time. 

Back  to  those  fellowships,  at  beck  of  duty, 

In  gladness  will  I  go, 
Counting  it  joy  alone  to  show  Christ's  beauty, — 

Him  crucified  to  know. 

Yet  'tis  a  dearer  thing  to  know  that  ever 

Christ  walks  close  by  my  side,— 
To  share  his  fellowship,  and  feel  forever 

He  is  his  children's  Guide. 

To  that  great  faithful  ONE  our  souls  are  yielded, 

Sailing  life's  ocean  o'er; 
Till  in  his  presence,  from  all  peril  shielded, 

Heart-bonds  are  broke  i  o  more. 

In  the  autumn  of  1856,  being  much  worn  in  body 
and  mind,  he  spent  a  few  weeks,  previous  to  the 
session  of  the  General  Conference  in  October,  in 
vacation  rambles  amid  familiar  scenes  in  Ohio. 
The  visit  to  this  field,  where  labor  had  been  most 
gratefully  received,  and  where  many  tender  friend- 
ships had  been  formed  and  cherished,  yielded  him 
unusual  pleasure.  In  this  letter  addressed  to  the 
covenant  meeting  of  the  Olneyville  church,  the  old 
memories  seem  struggling  with  the  new  for  the 
uppermost  place  in  his  heart,  and  pastoral  love 
beams  out  with  tenderness  : 


6O  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

44  CHESTER,  OHIO,  Sept.  25,  1856. 

"  I  can  not  meet  you  this  month  as  usual  in  the 
covenant  meeting,  and  so  there  is  only  left  me  a 
prayerful  remembrance,  and  a  few  lines  of  Chris- 
tian sympathy.  They  are  small  gifts  in  themselves  ; 
but  there  is  heart  interest  enough  going  with 
them  to  make  them  larger  if  I  knew  how.  In  the 
midst  of  the  rural  retreat  from  which  I  write, 
thoughts  of  those  who  call  me  pastor  come  trooping 
up  in  battalions.  Surrounded  by  those  whose  faces 
beam  like  stars  because  they  suggest  many  remem- 
bered kindnesses,  your  forms  are  present  to  the  in- 
ner eye.  Gladdened  by  tones  that  tell  of  well  - 
tried  sympathies,  your  Christian  speech  still  seems 
to  blend  with  all  these  friendly  voices.  The  greet- 
ings of  old  acquaintances  are  associated  with  the  pres- 
sure of  your  hands.  The  sacred  words  I  read,  bear 
me  back  in  spirit  to  the  spots  where  you  and  I  have 
meditated  on  them  together.  A  familiar  hymn 
leaps  to  my  lips  in  melody,  and  I  am  listening  for 
the  tones  that  so  often  helped  me  lift  it  heavenward. 
I  kneel  amid  a  group  of  worshipers  to  ask  the 
peace  of  heaven,  and  your  interests  still  stand  be- 
tween me  and  the  Mercy  Seat.  Sabbath  bells  call, 
and  I  seem  hastening  to  stand  before  the  faces  that 
have  looked  up  to  me  eagerly  or  reverently  from 
the  seats^  of  the  sanctuary.  My  pastoral  responsi- 
bilities will  not  be  wholly  loosened  from  my  heart, 
and  my  pastoral  yearning  for  your  welfare  leaps 
these  hundreds  of  intervening  miles  at  a  bound. 
*  God  be  gracious  to  you,  and  lift  the  light  of  his 


LETTER  TO  THE  OLKEYV1LLE  CHURCH.     6l 

countenance  upon  you  and  give  you  peace, '  is  the 
pith  of  my  prayer,  and  the  hope  of  my  better 
hours.  I  trust  you  stand  fast  in  the  Lord,  and  are 
dwelling  in  unity  and  peace ;  not  the  peace  and 
unity  of  simple  contact,  but  the  unity  of  a  Chris- 
tian oneness,  the  peace  springing  from  the  daily 
'  well  done '  of  heaven  over  your  zeal  and  faithful- 
ness. Be  strong  and  fear  not.  Trust  in  the  Lord 
and  do  good,  and  he  shall  strengthen  you  out  of 
Zion  and  give  you  prosperity.  May  none  of  your 
hearts  falter,  none  of  your  hands  hang  down,  none 
of  you  be  wanting  at  your  posts  in  the  labors  of  the 
Gospel.  I  desire  above  all  things  that  you  may 
prosper. 

"  For  myself  I  feel  that  my  heart  is  set  on  doing 
the  will  of  God.  Cloudy  or  bright,  my  purpose  is 
to  tread  the  path  of  duty.  Blind  to  the  issues  of 
the  great  conflict  of  sin  with  righteousness,  or  fore- 
seeing the  triumph  of  the  truth,  I  would  ever  be  fol- 
lowing without  a  fear  the  great  Captain  of  our  salva- 
tion, not  doubting  but  as  soon  as  is  meet,  I  may  cry, 
'  Thanks  be  to  God  who  giveth  us  the  victory.' 
May  we  all  be  sharers  in  that  triumph  of  the  cross. 
Afresh  I  accept  our  covenant,  and  over  it  I 
clasp  all  your  hands  to  night  in  spiritual  fellowship. 
Count  me  one  of  Christ's  friends  and  yours,  and 
speak  my  name  and  hold  up  my  weakness  some- 
times in  your  prayers." 

Another  letter  addressed  to  the  church  on  a  simi- 
lar occasion,  a  few  weeks  after  he  had  resigned  its 
pastorate,  may  fitly  appear  in  this  connection : 


62  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

"  EDINBURG,  N.  Y.,  May  31,  1857. 

'-  As  my  membership  still  remains  with  you,  it 
will  be  a  privilege  to  me  to  express  in  this  way  my 
interest  in  the  great  common  cause  which  makes  all 
Christ's  followers  one. 

"  Removed  as  I  am  from  the  circle  of  former  as- 
sociations, and  more  or  less  removed  from  the  active 
duties  to  which  I  have  been  accustomed  to  devote 
myself,  I  have  time  for  the  review  of  my  opinions 
and  experiences,  my  work  and  plans.  I  am  not 
now  in  a  position  to  be  controlled  by  enthusiasm, 
nor  held  fast  by  outward  cords  to  a  mode  of  life 
which  my  cooler  judgment  would  not  sanction.  On 
these  heights  of  contemplation  and  survey,  I  can 
stand  and  look  upon  the  stream  of  human  life  as  it 
sweeps  on  till  it  is  lost  in  the  mists  that  hang  over 
the  eternal  sea.  I  stand  here  and  look  Heaven  in 
the  face,  then  turn  to  inspect  the  world  and  the  life 
to  which  I  am  wedded  by  Providence.  I  recall 
what  I  have  read  of  history,  I  arrange  before  the 
mind  what  I  have  seen  and  known  in  experience, 
I  cast  a  glance  into  the  future,  and  then  endeavor 
to  frame  the  judgment  which  I  shall  be  likely  to 
pronounce  in  the  days  that  are  to  be.  I  try  to  sum 
up  the  meaning  of  life,  and  ask  where  and  how  are 
its  great  interests  to  be  found,  how  its  results  are  to 
be  made  longest  and  best.  And  with  a  force  that 
is  peculiar,  the  conviction  comes  home  to  me,  that 
to  « do  justly,  love  mercy  and  walk  humbly  with 
God, '  embodies  the  highest  philosophy,  and  reveals 
the  deepest  wisdom  which  ever  belongs  to  human 


LETTER  TO  THE  OLNEYVILLE  CHURCH.   63 

life.  A  life  of  piety  and  prayer  is  the  sublimest 
thing  which  human  history  knows ;  it  is  a  grander 
epic  than  ever  poet  wrote,  a  richer  picture  than  ever 
artist  painted,  a  sublimer  prophecy  than  ever  herald- 
ed the  downfall  of  an  empire.  It  is  more  royal  than 
the  sovereignty  of  a  king,  and  no  discovery  ever 
put  in  motion  such  an  enduring  and  redeeming 
power.  I  can  newly  understand  why  Jesus  bade  his 
exultant  disciples  not  rejoice  over  the  wielding  of 
miraculous  powers,  but  reserve  their  gladness  for 
the  assurance  that  their  names  were  written  in  heav- 
en. To  be  an  humble,  faithful  Christian  is  the 
great  glory  of  the  noblest  lives.  All  other  splendor 
fades  ;  this  brings  increasing  light.  Ail  other  hon- 
ors find  a  grave  ;  this  is  immortal.  Whatever  else 
we  fail  to  obtain  or  keep,  let  us  hold  fast  to  Christ, 
who  is  the  Rock  of  our  confidence,  the  inspiration 
of  our  virtues,  the  guide  of  our  steps,  the  Saviour  of 
our  souls. 

4  In  our  hands  no  price  we  bring, 
Simply  to  thy  cross  we  cling.' 

"  I  need  not  speak  of  the  peculiar  relations  we 
have  sustained  to  each  other,  nor  of  the  experiences 
in  which  we  have  been  sharers  in  common,  nor  of 
the  memories  which  will  long  survive  them.  They 
have  moulded  our  spirits  in  no  small  measure,  and 
will  reach  on  to  the  end  of  the  earth.  May  God 
forgive  whatever  was  unfaithful  on  my  part  and 
yours,  and  teach  us  thereby  wisdom  for  coming 
days. 


64  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

"  In  the  prosperity  you  have  enjoyed  within  a  few 
weeks  past,  I  have  rejoiced,  it  seems  to  me,  scarce- 
ly less  than  though  I  had  mingled  in  the  scenes 
which  have  made  your  hearts  throb  faster,  and 
your  faces  wet  with  grateful  tears.  May  many 
seek  your  guidance  to  'the  Saviour,  and  while  suc- 
cessfully leading  them  thither,  may  you  yourselves 
approach  and  tarry  still  nearer  His  footstool. 

"  I  hope  I  am  learning  some  new  and  higher  and 
more  practical  lessons  from  the  great  volumes  of 
Nature,  Life  and  the  Gospel.  If  I  am  permitted  to 
go  back  to  the  pulpit  at  a  future  day,  I  hope  to 
carry  there  a  wisdom,  a  faith,  a  devotedness,  a 
sympathy  with  God  and  a  yearning  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  men,  which  no  previous  portion  of  my  minis- 
try has  possessed. 

"  I  would  bind  myself  anew  to  faithfulness  by  giv- 
ing a  fresh  endorsement  to  the  Covenant  on  whose 
basis  we  have  pledged  ourselves  to  God  and  each 
other.  No  day  passes  but  you  are  remembered  be- 
fore God.  May  I  hope  that  my  necessities  will 
sometimes  add  a  petition  to  your  prayers?" 

From  the  hour  when  Martin  Cheney  entered  the 
lists  against  American  Slavery,  until  his  death,  the 
Olneyville  pulpit  was  recognized  as  no  insignificant 
bulwark  of  freedom.  Its  utterances  rang  like  bugle 
peals  of  victory  to  the  sons  of  liberty,  rousing  the 
courage  and  directing  the  blows  of  ministry  and 
laity  who  felt  the  need  of  strong  leadership ;  but  the 
friends  of  slavery  dreaded  its  power  and  cursed  its 


ANTI  -  SLAVERY     EFFORTS.  65 

influence.  It  had  been  a  calamity  indeed,  if,  as 
Mr.  Cheney  left  that  pulpit,  his  successor  had 
looked  upon  the  growing  insolence  and  mighty  ef- 
forts of  the  slave  power  with  indifference  or  timidi- 
ty. But  the  pupil  was  worthy  of  the  master,  and 
the  mantle  of  the  strong,  undaunted  prophet  fell 
upon  no  unwilling,  inadequate  shoulders. 

Mr.  Day  early  became  a  close,  earnest  student  of 
the  character  and  workings  of  slavery.  He  began 
to  discuss  the  issues  involved  in  it,  at  Smithville, 
not  merely  with  the  fervor  of  youthful  enthusiasm, 
but  in  the  spirit  of  sober  inquiry  and  manly  resist- 
ance, as  one  who  grapples  an  evil  so  vast  and  dan- 
gerous as  to  forbid  aught  but  the  most  intelligent, 
serious,  determined  opposition.  At  Bristol,  in 
1844,  he  delivered  an  and  -  slavery  address  having 
this  conclusion:  "  I  need  not  ask  whether  such  a 
system  is  hostile  to  the  spirit  and  designs  of  Chris- 
tianity. In  bringing  it  to  the  principles  of  revealed 
truth  by  which  to  test  its  character,  I  have  acted 
under  the  conviction  that  it  can  be  justly  decided  by 
no  other  standard.  If  it  be  opposed  to  the  Gospel 
it  is  wrong,  wholly  and  radically  wrong,  and  it  will 
leave  a  withering,  blighting  influence  wherever  it 
goes." 

By  that  same  unvarying,  infallible  test  he  thence- 
forth gauged  and  defined  the  system ;  nor  did  he 


66  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

fear  to  expound  the  principles  of  liberty  and  politi- 
cal obligations  because  of  the  obloquy  attaching  to  a 
minister's  "dabbling  in  the  dirty  waters  of  politics." 
With  the  passage  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill,  in 
1850,  the  nation,  generally,  began  to  enter  into  the 
fiercest  heats  of  political  strife.  The  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  the  rendition  of  Burns,  and 
Kansas  outrages  quickly  followed.  Freedom  and 
slavery  stood  face  to  face  in  a  gigantic  moral  war- 
fare ;  the  mask  had  fallen  from  the  great  foe  to  civil 
rights,  revealing  in  all  their  nakedness  the  hideous 
lines  of  avarice  fed  by  lust,  and  sinister  designs 
supported  by  recklessness.  Meanwhile,  many  who 
had  for  years  been  strangely  blind  to  the  real  nature 
and  issues  of  slavery,  were  startled  into  hostility  to 
it.  But  there  were  many  others  who,  with  more  or 
less  willingness  acknowledging  it  to  be  an  evil, 
would  not  confess  it  to  be  an  evil  to  be  repented  and 
abandoned,  nor  to  be  laid  at  the  door  of  the  party  in 
power,  with  which  they  voted.  Although  Mr. 
Cheney  had  incurred  the  bitter  opposition,  and  suf- 
fered from  the  withdrawal  of  some  who  had  support- 
ed that  party,  yet  many  of  them  remained  under  his 
ministry,  illy  concealing  their  uneasiness  in  the 
presence  of  his  severe  condemnations  of  slavery 
from  the  pulpit,  and  were  still  members  of  the  con- 
.gregation  at  the  beginning  of  Mr.  Day's  pastorate. 


ANTI- SLAVERY    EFFORTS.  67 

When  the  hour  was  darkest  and  the  foe  most 
insolent,  then  it  was  that  Mr.  Day  put  forth  his 
most  daring,  brilliant  efforts  in  behalf  of  freedom. 
It  implied  no  little  courage  and  strength  of  purpose, 
to  proclaim  boldly  the  unpopular  cause  in  a  town 
whose  prevailing  influences  were  arrayed  against 
him,  and  where  not  a  few  pew-holders  were  sure  to 
denounce  and  desert  the  church  to  which  he  minis- 
tered. But  no  new  outrage  was  suffered  to  pass 
without  eliciting  from  him  a  new  vindication  of 
right ;  and  occasionally  a  town  -  meeting  would  be 
preceded  by  some  clear  proclamation  of  a  principle, 
or  followed  by  wholesome  rebuke.  Some  of  his 
warmest  friends,  startled  by  his  boldness  and  keen 
onslaught,  would  now  and  then  counsel  greater 
moderation  and  prudence.  His  opponents  freely 
sneered  and  condemned  in  stores  and  on  the  street, 
but  ventured  no  open  attack  by  argument  or  by  or- 
ganized opposition. 

The  most  remarkable  episode  in  his  anti  -  slavery 
efforts,  occurred  in  the  early  part  of  the  summer  of 
1856.  It  was  at  the  time  of  the  Kansas  troubles. 
Governor  Reeder  had  been  driven  from  the  State, 
which  had  become  a  field  of  bloodshed  in  the  en- 
counter between  freedom  and  slavery.  A  conven- 
tion of  those  who  sympathized  with  the  sufferers 
from  Southern  outrage  had  been  held  in  Buffalo,  N. 


68  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

Y.  A  minister  present  at  that  convention,  on  his 
return  to  Providence,  was  allowed  the  use  of  the 
lecture  -  room  at  Olneyville,  for  the  purpose  of  giv- 
ing an  account  publicly  of  its  spirit  and  action.  At 
the  close  of  his  lecture,  a  gentleman  well  known  in 
Democratic  circles  in  R.  I.,  asked  the  privilege  of 
the  use  of  the  lecture  -  room  for  an  evening  of  the 
following  week,  that  opportunity  for  criticism  upon 
the  remarks  just  presented  might  be  afforded,  inti- 
mating that  he  himself  should  not  presume  to  answer 
the  lecturer,  but  would  procure  the  service  of  one 
amply  qualified  to  do  so.  The  request  was  grant- 
ed, and,  at  the  time  specified,  Hon.  Welcome  B. 
Sayles,  of  Providence,  a  thorough  -  bred  politician, 
being  introduced,  gave,  as  was  hoped  and  supposed 
by  many,  a  triumphant  vindication  of  his  party. 
Before  the  close  of  the  week,  Mr.  Day  announced 
that  he  would  attempt  an  answer  to  Mr.  Sayles,.  on 
the  next  Wednesday  evening.  Both  curiosity  and 
anxiety  attended  the  announcement: — curiosity  to 
know  how  a  minister  would  appear  in  a  contest  with 
a  recognized  political  leader  and  orator ;— anxiety 
by  timid  men  lest  he  should  greatly  offend  and  alien- 
ate, and  also  by  some  of  his  friends  lest  he  should 
appear  at  a  disadvantage. 

The  lecture  -  room,  on  the  evening  of  his  speech, 
was  filled  by  an  audience  which  embraced  a  num- 


ANTI- SLAVERY    EFFORTS.  69 

her  of  the  prominent  men  of  both  political  parties, 
among  whom  was  Hon.  H.  B.  Anthony,  now  of  the 
U.  S.  Senate,  and  others  who  then  figured,  and  are 
now  known,  in  the  politics  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Day  had  taken  full  notes  of  the  utterances  of 
the  previous  meeting.  These  notes,  together  with 
carefully  compiled  and  effective  quotations  from  ad- 
ministration journals  and  official  documents,  fur- 
nished the  basis  of  a  strong,  thorough  indictment  of 
the  pro  -  slavery  party,  both  in  its  Northern  and 
Southern  developments.  For  three  hours  and  a 
half,  scorching  rebuke,  keen  analysis  and  Christian 
protest  went  on  with  resistless  might ;  while  no  po- 
sition assumed  was  left  carelessly  guarded,  nor  any 
blow  suffered  to  fall  in  weakness.  Its  close  was 
a  burst  of  patriotic  fervor,  ending  with  the  lines  : 

"  Thou,  too,  sail  on,  O  Ship  of  State ! 
Sail  on,  O  Union,  strong  and  great! 
Hunnnity,  with  all  its  fears, 
With  all  the  hopes  pf  future  years, 
Is  hanging  breathless  on  thy  fate !  " 

The  Providence  Journal  referred  to  the  speech 
the  next  morning,  at  some  length,  and  in  terms  of 
high  praise.  It  was  more  pointed  and  scathing 
thau  his  audience  had  anticipated,  as  it  was  more 
powerful  and  eloquent.  No  answer  was  ever  pro- 
posed or  seriously  contemplated.  The  master  in 
the  pulpit  was  also  master  in  the  political  arena. 


7O  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

Weakness  crushed,  or  suffering  imposed,  had 
special  claim  upon  his  sympathy  and  help.  He  en- 
deavored to  ascertain  the  nature  of  his  human  rela- 
tionships, and  become  in  a  true  sense, -his  "  broth- 
er's keeper."  Compromise  of  principle,  or  fear  of 
results  in  the  presence  of  threats  or  contumely  was 
with  him  impossible.  In  the  heat  of  the  anti  -  slav- 
ery conflict  he  was  bitterly  charged  with  being 
an  Abolitionist.  He  simply  replied:  "Whoso- 
ever is  afraid  to  avow  it,  I  glory  in  it."  His  posi- 
tion admitted  no  charge  of  ambiguity.  If  he  were 
complained  of,  as  "helping  prejudice  the  slave- 
holder, making  him  more  determined  in  his 
course,"  he  replied  :  "  If  slaveholders  are  such  men 
that  they  will  hold  on,  and  grow  more  oppressive 
just  out  of  spite  to  their  accusers,  they  show  that 
they  are  not  fit  to  manage  slaves  !  "  While,  in  this 
combat  with  slavery,  one  missed  the  fiery,  epigram- 
matic utterance,  the  sharp,  stern  dealing  of  Cheney, 
there  was  recognized  in  his  successor  a  finer  array 
of  those  qualities  and  powers  which  are  dreaded 
and  shunned  by  an  opponent. 

While  our  attention  is  directed  to  his  position 
and  exertions  in  this  field  of  patriotic,  Christian 
service,  let  us  notice  his  utterances  on  two  oth- 
er significant  occasions, — after  which,  formal  refer- 
ence to  his  anti  -  slavery  efforts  may  cease. 


ANTI- SLA  VERY    EFFORTS.  71 

A  meeting  of  citizens  of  Providence  was  held 
Dec.  2,  1859,  tae  day  of  John  Brown's- execution  at 
Harper's  Ferry.  Few  prominent  men  in  political  or 
business  circles,  and  few  ministers  even  cared  to  be 
identified  with  it.  The  better  portion  of  the  city 
press  had  strongly  intimated  that  such  a  meeting, 
for  such  a  purpose,  ought  not  to  be  holden.  The 
meeting  was  addressed  by  Hons.  Amos  C.  Barstow 
and  Thomas  Davis,  and  by  Revs,  G.  T.  Day  and 
A.  Woodbury. 

Amid  the  deep  gloom  of  that  hour,  with  great 
national  issues  fearfully  impending,  strange  por- 
tents appearing  in  the  political  heavens,  and  men's 
hearts  well  nigh  failing  them, — hope,  faith  and 
courage  beam  out  in  his  words  : 

"Somehow  deliverance  is  manifestly  coming; 
that  is  hardly  a  question  ;  the  eternal  laws  of  Provi- 
dence settle  that It  is  a  fitting  time  now  to 

bear  testimony  for  Freedom  in  the  face  of  public 
clamor.  I  can  afford  to  be  silent  when  her  step  is 
stately,  her  mien  majestic,  her  work  manifestly  con- 
servative, when  she  stands  simply  on  the  defensive, 
or  is  pitied  by  the  world  while  she  bleeds  in  the 
Senate  Chamber,  struck  down  in  the  person  of  a 
noble  Senator,  and  all  voices  are  lifted  in  her  de- 
fence and  praise.  I  choose  to  come  here  in  the  day 
of  her  misfortunes  ;  to  stand  by  her  side  when  men 
are  doubting  whether  it  be  wise  and  prudent  to  be 
allied  with  her  interests.  I  take  her  with  all  her 


72  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

perils,  and  will  repudiate  no  confidence  when  her 
friends  commit  excesses  in  her  name." 

Here  appears  the  nobility  of  his  nature.  Shun- 
ning no  cause  through  'the  obloquy  or  weakness  at- 
tending it;  once  assured  of  the  fitness  of  its  claims, 
he  accepted  all  the  liabilities  of  an  alliance.  The 
"  irrepressible  conflict  "  found  him  never  less  warm 
in  his  adherence  when  an  avowal  of  belief  excited 
a  howl  of  indignation.  Nor  did  he  ask  who  pro- 
nounced a  denial  of  the  facts,  nor  who  were  dumb 
before  them.  To  know  the  facts  was  to  decide  his 
utterance  and  his  allegiance.  If  he  seemed  in  the 
advance  as  a  reformer,  it  was  chiefly  because  of  his 
determination  to  •  see,  and  abide  with,  the  right, 
when  others  fell  back  from  it  or  refused  to  accept 
its  utmost  direction. 

In  the  sermon,  delivered  on  the  day  of  President 
Buchanan's  National  Fast,  just  preceding  secession, 
after  referring  to  the  position  of  the  President,  of 
Congress  and  the  country,  and  recounting  the  real 
issues  presented  in  the  crisis,  he  asks  : 

"  What  shall  we  do?  There  is  one  way  in  which 
we  may  seek  relief,  it  is  to  yield  everything.  Can 
we  do  that?  If  we  have  meant  nothing  in  what  we 
have  said;  if  our  praise  of  liberty  is  mere  rhetoric; 
if  we  feel  that  no  honor,  no  justice,  no  righteous- 
ness, nor  manhood,  nor  virtue,  nor  religion  is  in- 

O 

volved  in  this  question ;  if  quiet  and  cotton,  sugar 


ANTI- SLAVERY  EFFORTS.  73 

and  tobacco,  and  the  money  they  represent,  are 
everything ;  and  if  satisfied  that  these  are  to  come 
through  submission  and  acquiescence,  we  can  yield 
everything.  If  every  man  who  has  stood  for  a 
truth,  or  died  for  a  principle,  is  either  a  fanatic  or  a 
fool,  then  we  may  consent  at  once,  promise  all  that 
is  demanded,  recall  our  words,  annul  our  oaths, 
and  go  down  on  our  knees  in  penitential  confession. 
If  we  have  acted  with  a  Christian  conscience  we 
can  not  retract ;  and  if  we  read  history  aright,  the 
future  offers  a  straight  path.  New  England  at  least, 
has  grown  from  the  seed  of  free  and  sacred  principle. 
The  chief  freight  of  the  Mayflower  was  moral 
conviction.  The  Pilgrims  chose  manhood  with 
exile  rather  than  servility  with  preferment.  The 
real  thrift  of  two  hundred  years  has  come  of  per- 
sonal courage  and  fidelity,  of  social  honor  and  re- 
spect, of  national  justice  and  dignity.  Our  chief 
strength  and  glory  are  the  outgrowth  of  that  spirit 
which  has  lifted  up  the  weak,  given  the  despondent 
courage,  taught  the  lowliest  of  our  race  to  aspire  to 
the  functions  and  honors  of  a  man,  and  which  flung 
off  as  an  incubus,  that  hideous  system  which  grew 
up  in  the  midnight  of  barbarism.  And  when  we 
are  now  asked  to  unlearn  all  the  best  lessons  of  our 
significant  history,  to  ignore  all  the  facts  of  experi- 
ence, to  pervert  the  conscience  which  our  whole 
training  has  taught  to  cry  out  against  oppression,  to 
confess  that  the  Bible  is  the  slave  -  trader's  war- 
rant, to  blot  out  or  blur  over  every  sentence  which 
our  fathers  spoke  for  freedom,  to  eat  all  the  bravest 


74  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

and  most  generous  words  which  we  have  ever  utter- 
ed, to  sneer  at  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  to 
commission  the  plague  and  pestilence  of  slavery  for 
an  irruption  over  all  the  region  and  territory  of  the 
Continent,  while  freedom  is  left  without  a  single 
legal  guarantee, — when  all  this  is  demanded  as  the 
condition  of  fellowship  and  peace,  —  the  answer  to 
such  dictators  ought  to  be  calm,  prompt  and  final.  " 

Yielding  to  a  conviction  which  the  experience  of 
nearly  two  years  had  been  maturing, — that  pro- 
tracted efficiency  and  usefulness  required  longer  and 
more  complete  rest  than  could  be  consistently  gained 
while  sustaining  pastoral  relations,  he  tendered  his 
resignation  in  February,  1857.  During  the  two 
months  following,  the  tokens  of  personal  inter- 
est and  appreciation  which  accompanied  his 
ministry,  were  manifested  in  a  peculiarly  tender 
manner,  and  plans  highly  honorable  to  the  generos- 
ity and  devotion  of  the  society  were  proposed  for 
his  personal  relief  and  welfare  ;  but  still  urging  his 
request  from  a  sense  of  private  and  public  duty,  the 
relationship  of  pastor  and  people  was  dissolved  on 
the  first  of  April. 

Seeking  only  the  regaining  of  physical  and  mental 
vigor,  he  retired  for  a  number  of  weeks  with  his 
family,  to  the  seclusion  of  his  brother's  farm  in 
Edinburg,  N.  Y.  How  freely  he  gave  himself  up 
to^the  new  and  welcome  influences  ;  how  fully  he 


REST       IN      EDINBURG,     N.     Y.  75 

drank  in  the  teachings  of  nature,  and  how  readily 
he  allowed  her  moods  to  direct  his  own  ;  how  trout 
and  bird,  brook  and  forest,  the  farm-yard  with  its  in- 
cidents of  animal  life,  afforded  occasions  for  playful 
humor,  as  well  as  refreshment  to  jaded  powers,  his 
letters  written  at  that  time  to  the  Morning  Star  bear 
some  witness.  One  of  the  letters  sent  from  this  re- 
treat did  not  appear  in  its  columns.  "  A  fact 
accounted  for, "'  he  said,  referring  to  it  some  months 
after,  "  -perhaps  by  failure  of  the  mails,  but  more 
likely  because  it  so  far  surpassed  its  companions  in 
the  element  of  fun  as  to  be  unwelcome  to  sober 
tastes.  "  To  those  who  knew  the  fund  of  humor  in 
his  nature,  these  sportive  sketches  of  rural  life  and 
enjoyment  were  the  exuberant  sallies  of  a  healthful, 
genuine  soul,  the  gratifying  signs  of  returning 
hopefulness  and  vigor. 


III. 

IN  THE  MINISTRY. 

PROVIDENCE. 
1857—1866. 

The  pastorate  of  the  Roger  Williams  church  in 
Providence  became  vacant  soon  after  his  resigna- 
tion had  been  sent  to  the  society  at  Olneyville.  But 
not  until  final  action  by  the  latter,  sundering  the  re- 
lationship which  had  subsisted  between  them,  would 
he  listen  to  any  proposition  for  his  labors  else- 
where ;  and  after  his  pastorate  had  formally  closed, 
private  solicitations  having  reference  to  the  Provi- 
dence pastorate  were  met  by  little  encouragement. 

While  at  Edinburg  he  received  a  formal  call  to 
the  Roger  Williams  church,  with  the  privilege 
of  a  vacation  of  six  months  before  he  should 
assume  its  active  duties.  Accepting  the  call,  he 
decided  to  devote  three  months  to  a  European 


FIRST     TOUR    IN    EUROPE.  77 

tour,  and  sailed  from  New  York,  June  24.  Having 
visited  England,  Scotland,  Germany,  Switzerland 
and  France,  he  reached  home  Sept.  23.  Before 
going  abroad  he  had  become  sufficiently  strengthen- 
ed to  be  able  to  enjoy  with  comparatively  few  phys- 
ical hindrances,  the  taxation  of  strength,  arising 
from  the  experiences  of  a  tourist. 

It  was  a  joy  to  walk  by  his  side  as,  with  form 
erect,  the  dull  leaden  line,  brought  by  severe,  anx- 
ious toil,  and  by  suffering,  faded  from  his  eye  -  lids, 
exuberant  movement  taking  the  place  of  the  old 
languor,  he  performed  a  toilsome  journey  of  twenty 
miles  in  a  day,  on  foot,  over  the  rugged  Swiss 
mountain  passes.  The  nerveless,  weary,  despond- 
ent pastor  could  scarcely  have  been  recognized  on 
that  radiant  August  morning,  when  with  the  sun's 
rising  he  stood  upon  the  balcony  of  the  hotel  at 
Chamounix,  and  clasped  his  hands  with  childlike  un- 
consciousness over  his  heart,  as  if  to  keep  in  its 
wild  beating,  as  he  gazed  with  lustrous  eye  up  to 
the  clear,  pure,  vast  majesty  enthroning  Mt.  Blanc, 
and  then  silently,  with  inspiration  and  dignity  in 
every  step,  went  back  to  his  room  to  meditation  and 
prayer. 

Every  day,  almost,  seemed  to  add  to  his  strength 
of  body  and  exhilaration  of  spirit ;  and  the  results 
sought  by  the  tour  were  gained  to  a  degree  highly 


78  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

gratifying  to  himself  and  his  friends.  It  was  pur- 
sued with  such  regard  to  personal  endurance,  and 
the  gaining  of  intelligent  acquaintance  with  what 
was  best  in  art,  peculiar  in  society  and  striking  in 
nature,  that  there  were  no  features  of  it  which  he 
ever  recalled  with  feelings  of  disappointment  or  re- 
gret. A  series  of  letters  contributed  to  the  Morn- 
ing Star,  were  remarkable  for  their  ease  and  fresh- 
ness, their  vividness  of  descriptions  of  life  and 
scenery,  and  their  comprehensive  appreciation  of 
the  beautiful  and  grand  in  art,  and  of  the  wonder- 
ful achievements  of  scientific  and  architectural  skill. 

His  pastoral  labors  commenced  with  October. 
In  regard  to  this  entrance  upon  ministerial  duties  he 
said  : 

"  I  felt  in  some  sense  as  if  beginning  anew ;  had 
been  given  a  season  for  reflection,  for  a  survey 
backward  and  forward.  I  meant  to  make  my  ser- 
vice more  full  of  heart.  I  felt  that  spiritual  results 
alone,  without  undervaluing  others,  could  satisfy 
me,  and  that  these  should  be  chiefly  sought ;  never 
felt  more  self  -  distrustful,  nor  more  like  looking  to 
God.  " 

Those  who  were  permitted  to  enjoy  his  public 
and  private  counsels  in  the  ensuing  nine  rare  years, 
realized  a  significant  incarnation  of  these  words  of 
pastoral  devotion,  of  Christian  love  and  hope.  The 
study  and  toil,  the  varied  and  rich  experiences  of  a 


ROGER    WILLIAMS     PASTORATE.  79 

faithful,  watchful   ministry  bore  in  this  field  their 
choicest  fruits. 

Mature  judgment,  ripe  scholarship,  large  and 
quick  comprehension  of  human  nature,  caution  in 
forming  opinions  and  their  usual  correctness  when 
reached ;  an  intelligent,  sympathetic  appreciation  of 
the  spirit  and  efforts  of  those  who  sought  his  help 
and  guidance,  combined  to  make  him  a  pastor  and 
teacher  indeed. 

His  pulpit  ministrations  disclosed,  if  possible,  more 
than  former  dignity,  and  were  richer  in  thought, 
more  practical,  and  more  effective  in  reaching  the 
intimate  and  peculiar  wants  of  the  soul.  He  strove 
to  win  men ;  his  ambition  was  to  save  them  by  the 
faithful  application  of  the  vital  teachings  of  the 
gospel.  At  one  time  he  said  publicly  :  "  I  am 
trying  to  be  more  plain  in  speech  and  kind  in  act.  * 

In  his  anniversary  sermon,  Oct.  2,  1859,  ne  sa*d  : 

"  To  me  the  work  seems  every  year  to  grow 
weightier.  I  am  settling  more  and  more  into  fixed- 
ness of  character  and  effort.  More  and  more  ] 
seem  to  hear  the  precept :  '  Whatsoever  thy  hand 
findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might, '  sounding  from 
every  side.  More  and  more  the  Gospel  seems  the 
great  reality,  and  all  beside  it,  phantoms.  Here  is 
the  solid  adamant.  I  seem  but  a  child  in  grace,  but 
thank  God  for  the  hope  that  I  shall  have  an  eternal 
summer  for  my  growth. 


8O  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

"  I  have  not  met  you  as  a  mere  routine  always — 
I  know  that.  I  have  tried  to  study  your  wants,  and 
have  tried  to  meet  them.  I  think  we  are  coming  to 
understand  each  other  better,  and  I  should  be  sorry 
to  think  that  increasing  knowledge  was  not  bringing 
increased  confidence. 

"  We  have  met  in  sick  rooms  and  at  death  beds, 
and  looked  upward  to  find  hope  and  light ;  in  joyous 
circles  and  our  pulses  have  leaped  freshly  in  the 
sunshine  of  sympathy  ;  our  voices  have  blended  in 
song  and  our  hearts  in  prayer  when  the  hour  of 
evening  worship  drew  on;  and  sometimes  in  this 
sanctuary  has  it  not  seemed  as  though  we  were  on 
the  crest  of  another  Tabor,  amid  eternal  brightness, 
saying  with  deep  fervor :  '  how  good  it  is  to  be 
here '  ?  But  we  are  workers  together  here.  Not 
finished  yet  are  our  tasks. 

"  Do  not  suppose  that  I  am  alone  responsible  for 
your  religious  character,  life  and  faithfulness,  or 
think  of  me  as  necessary  to  it.  I  have  no  compul- 
sory power.  And  if  any  feeling  of  excessive  con- 
fidence or  passivity  exists,  I  am  the  occasion  of 
your  loss.  The  profit  you  gather  must  largely  de- 
pend on  yourselves.  It  is  your  enterprise  quite  as 
much  as  mine — more  yours  who  are  not  Christians. 
It  involves  your  salvation,  and  that  no  man  can  se- 
cure for  you. " 

The  amount  of  work  pressed  upon  him  from  be- 
yond his  pastoral  field  was  in  no  degree  intermitted 
or  lightened.  A  larger  sphere  of  public  service 


ROGER  WILLIAMS  PASTORATE.        8l 

was  opened  to  him  by  his  removal  to  Providence. 
He  was  more  closely  surrounded  by  the  working 
forces  of  an  intensely  active  and  growing  city. 
Among  its  pastors  he  was  accorded  a  prominent  and 
influential  position,  while  none  of  their  number  who 
came  into  close  acquaintanceship  with  him,  did  not 
find  it  pleasant  and  profitable  to  consult  his  judg- 
ment and  seek  his  counsel.  He  was  in  all  circles 
recognized  as  a  fearless,  independent  and  valiant 
friend  and  defender  of  human  rights,  and  of  all 
healthful  reform.  And  while  timidity  and  conserva- 
tism stood  aloof,  it  was  understood  that  he  would 
not  be  found  wanting  in  any  crisis  however  beset 
with  difficulty  or  obloquy.  His  presence  at  the 
"John  Brown  meeting"  has  been  mentioned. 
When  "the  colored  school  question"  came  up  in 
the  R.  I.  legislature,  in  1859,  he  made  several 
speeches  upon  it  before  the  legislative  committee  at 
the  State  House,  and  also  wrote  the  report  to  be 
presented  to  the  legislature  by  that  part  of  the  com- 
mittee favoring  the  bill. 

His  efforts  as  a  lecturer  were  not  unwel- 
come in  his  own  city.  At  a  festival,  in  1860,  of  the 
"  Association  of  Mechanics  and  Manufacturers,  " 
he  was  called  to  respond  to  the  toast :  "  The  R.  I. 
March  —  As  played  by  the  pulley  and  wheel, 
spindle  and  shuttle ;  sweet  music  and  popular.  " 


82  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

Col.  Wm.  Sprague,  who  was  expected  to  re- 
spond, was  absent,  and  the  President  called  up 
Rev.  G.  T.  Day,  who  till  that  moment  had  no  in- 
timation of  such  a  change  in  the  programme.  After 
an  introduction  full  of  pleasantry,  his  remarks  ran 
in  the  following  vein  : 

"  Music  has  been  classed  among  the  fine  arts  ;  it 
is  described,  sometimes,  as  an  accomplishment;  it  is 
set  down  as  belonging  to  ornamental  education.  It 
is  suggestive  of  taste,  and  implies  refinement  of 
feeling.  This  assthetical  culture  is  no  longer  con- 
fined to  what  are  peculiarly  literary  circles.  It  is 
not  alone  the  possession  of  the  wealthy,  nor  the  joy 
of  those  who  live  in  ease.  There  is  mind  among 
the  spindles  !  The  mechanic's  hand  is  guided  by  a 
cultivated  intellect,  and  his  home  bears  witness  to 
the  presence  and  influence  of  refined  tastes  and  ele- 
vated enjoyment.  The  eye  of  labor  is  becoming 
quick  to  perceive  beaut}' ;  its  ear  is  open  to  music  ; 
it  is  at  home  amid  the  refinements  of  social  inter- 
course ;  it  feeds  its  understanding  with  thought,  and 
its  heart  answers  to  the  appeal  of  virtuous  love. 

"  The  old  mythological  story  carries  a  prophecy 
whose  fulfillment  we  are  witnessing.  Gigantic  Vul- 
can, muscular,  swarthy  and  grim,  whose  business 
it  was  to  forge  thunderbolts  for  Jupiter,  in  the  depths 
of  Vesuvius,  was  wedded,  —  not  to  Juno,  nor 
Minerva,  —  but  to  Venus,  child  of  the  sea -foam, 
goddess  of  grace  and  beauty.  So  the  mechanic  is 
rapidly  forming  an  alliance  with  the  artist,  taste  is 


ROGER     WILLIAMS     PASTORATE.  83 

the  perpetual  companion  of  labor,  and  beauty  is 
wedded  to  strength.  Everywhere  the  Vulcan  of 
toil  is  effectually  wooing  the  Venus  of  taste.  The 
disciplined  ear  and  cultivated  intellect  of  the  Rhode 
Island  mechanic  are  translating  the  hum  of  machin- 
ery into  marches  which  quicken  and  steady  the 
steps  of  progress.  " 

Not  only  is  his  chaste  eloquence  illustrated  by 
this  extract,  but  the  response  was  regarded  as^a 
most  happy  proof  of  the  readiness  of  his  mind  in 
emergencies  which  might  be  expected  to  confuse  or 
silence.  The  speech,  given  with  such  spirit  and  ef- 
fect, was  received  with  special  demonstrations  of 
pleasure,  and  led  to  an  invitation  from  the  Associa- 
tion to  deliver  one  of  the  lectures  in  its  regular 
course  the  following  winter ;  an  invitation  possessing 
significance  from  the  fact,  that  in  a  city  boasting 
large  talent,  few  of  its  residents  have  received  a 
similar  honor. 

Churches  of  his  own  order  freely  sought  his  ad- 
vice in  connection  with  the  settling  or  dismissal  of 
pastors,  and  upon  financial  matters.  They  also  re- 
ceived the  benefit  of  frequent  sermons  and  lectures. 
In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1859,  tne  "  Choralist," 
a  hymn  and  tune  book,  upon  which  he  had  bestow- 
ed much  time  and  labor  as  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee of  compilation,  was  issued.  He  writes : 
"  Have  found  some  difficulty  in  getting  the  copy- 


84  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

righted  music  to  insert.  It  is  about  as  easy  to  ar- 
range with  musical  composers,  as  to  get  a  choir  to 
go  along  without  quarreling  or  pouting.  " 

Multiplied  general  labors,  added  to  those  of  his 
ministry  at  home,  made  incessant,  exhausting  in- 
roads upon  his  powers  of  endurance,  and  it  excites 
little  wonder  that  once  or  twice  in  each  year  health 
gave  way  altogether.  But  he  would  rally  from 
prostrations  that  seemed  likely  to  keep  him  from 
activity  for  weeks,  with  surprising  quickness,  suffi- 
ciently to  enable  him,  all  too  soon,  to  creep  back  to 
his  post.  It  is  deeply  to  be  regretted  that  the  re- 
monstrances of  his  friends,  to  which  he  alludes  in 
the  following  letter,  could  not  have  more  frequently 
and  successfully  prevailed  over  his  unwise  persist- 
ence. It  is  written  after  an  illness  resulting  in  the 
suffering  from  debility  beyond  what  he  had  ever  felt 
before  :  "  I  hope  soon  to  be  about  my  usual  service 
again.  I  ventured  out  last  Sunday  afternoon  and 
bore  it  tolerably.  Last  evening  went  to  our  usual 
prayer  meeting  and  enjoyed  it  highly.  I  think  I 
could  manage  to  preach  next  Sunday,  but  our 
people  threaten  to  leave  me  on  the  useless  list,  at 
least  a  week  longer.  " 

In  one  of  his  anniversary  sermons  he  says  :  "I 
am  not  a  little  perplexed  to  decide  what  is  my  duty 
with  respect  to  general  service,  which  absorbs  more 


ROGER    WILLIAMS    PASTORATE.  85 

or  less  of  time  and  strength.  Calls  for  general 
labor  are  frequent  and  burdensome,  and  I  do  not 
see  how  I  can  get  rid  of  them.  Yet  I  have  had 
a  prayerful  longing  for  the  growth  of  spiritual  life 
among  you.  Judge  my  ministry  by  what  it  does  as 
bearing  upon  that  object.  If  it  has  failed  here,  the 
failure  has  been  sad  and  disastrous.  " 

But  amid  all  outward  distractions  and  cares,  he 
kept  his  deepest  interest  and  tenderest  care  for  his  own 
people.  No  triumphs  elsewhere  were  to  him  such 
sources  of  joy  as  the  evidences  of  their  growth, 
nothing  saddened  him  "  so  much  as  disappointed 
hopes  and  efforts  in  that  direction. "  Again  he 
says : 

"  I  have  been  anxious  to  see  a  rounded  and  com- 
plete Christian  character  in  individual  cases,  and 
in  church  life ;  have  wanted  intelligence  and  heart, 
solidity  of  principle  and  fervor  of  feeling,  system  with 
spontaneity,  reverence  with  sociability,  conscien- 
tious fidelity  and  sunny  gladness.  For  every  gain 
in  this  direction  I  thank  God  daily.  I  may  some  • 
times  seem  too  intent  on  reaching  unattained  objects 
to  give  appreciation  to  what  is  done.  I  try  not  to 
err  in  that  way.  Every  day  my  life  becomes  more 
closely  bound  up  with  yours.  I  learn  to  be  glad  in 
your  gladness  and  sorrowful  over  your  griefs.  I 
long  to  work  more  in  Paul's  spirit,  and  find  the  re- 
joicing of  which  he  speaks.  " 


86  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

In  February,  1864,  his  health  demanding  respite 
from  pastoral  toil,  his  friends  procured  him  an 
appointment  to  labor  in  the  army  under  the  au- 
spices of  the  Christian  Commission.  The  kind,  as 
well  as  place  of  service,  was  left  freely  to  his 
choice ;  and  while  it  was  mutually  understood  by 
him  and  the  officers  of  the  Commission  that  it  was 
to  be  of  real  value,  yet  that  it  should  be  of  no 
greater  weight  than  due  regard  for  the  regaining  of 
health  would  allow. 

It  was  hoped  that  such  a  change  of  work,  with 
the  stimulus  coming  from  the  encouragements  usu- 
ally experienced  by  the  agents  in  that  kind  of  ser- 
vice, would  impart  new  vigor  to  body  and  mind. 
March  22,  after  a  week's  absence,  he  writes,  show- 
ing that  he  shared  the  expectations,  and  entered 
cordially  into  the  plans  of  his  friends  :  "  I  am  rest- 
ed a  little  and  hope  to  begin  recruiting  in  earnest. 
I  mean  to  take  things  easy  and  grow  strong  if  pos- 
sible. I  want  to  go  back  with  a  fresh  and  higher 
fitness  for  service." 

A  private  letter  indicates  the  nature  of  his  posi- 
tion, and  the  reception  which,  in  peculiar  circum- 
stances, was  accorded  him  : 

"  I  find  myself  most  cordially  received,  have 
pleasant  companionship  in  the  delegates  of  the 
Commission  and  others,  and  enjoy  my  work  among 


CHRISTIAN    COMMISSION    WORK.  87 

the  soldiers.  Have  felt  sometimes  a  little  delicate, 
mingling  with  regular  delegates,  being  myself  pos- 
sessor of  special  privileges ;  and  I  had  a  little  fear 
lest  the  agents  were  feeling  it  an  embarrassment  to 
them ;  but  that  feeling  gradually  wears  away,  I  feel 
more  and  more  easy,  and  the  agents  gradually 
come  to  help  me  to  be  quiet,  and  caution  me 
against  over  risk  and  service." 

After  arriving  at  the  front,  Culpepper,  Va.,  he 
again  writes  of  his  associatipns  :  "I  receive  every 
kindness  and  attention  which  I  need.  The  longer 
I  stop  at  any  point  somehow  the  more  of  kindness 
and  generosity  I  meet,  so  that  I  make  every  change 
with  as  much  regret  as  gladness." 

His  intention  "  to  take  things  easy  and  grow 
strong,"  was  overborne  or  forgotten  amid  the  full, 
earnest  devotion  to  duty  into  which,  almost  at  the 
outset,  he  was  drawn.  The  interest  with  which  his 
sermons  and  personal  approaches  were  received  by 
men  and  officers  alike,  in  the  camps  which  he  visit- 
ed ;  above  all,  the  religious  awakenings  which  at- 
tended them, —  ten,  twenty,  and  sometimes  a  great- 
er number  asking  prayers  and  wishing  to  be  en- 
rolled as  Christians,  stimulated  him  to  the  utmost 
exertion. 

The  reaction  following  this  excessive  drain  of 
nervous  and  physical  energy,  he  was  illy  prepared 
to  sustain. 


88  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

On  his  return  home  he  experienced  great  lassi- 
tude, with  symptoms  of  fever,  but  refusing  to  yield 
at  once  to  the  intimations  of  disease,  he  preached 
on  the  following  Sunday  and  performed  other  ex- 
hausting labor.  In  a  few  days  after,  he  was  strick- 
en down  with  an  illness  of  so  alarming  character 
that  for  weeks  his  life  seemed  almost  hopelessly 
jeopardized.  It  was  not  until  autumn  that  he  was 
able  to  resume  his  usual  labors. 

With  tender,  subdued,  chastened  spirit  he  uttered 
in  his  sermon  on  the  first  Sunday  in  October,  being 
his  seventh  anniversary,  these  memorable  senten- 
ces : 

"  Our  ways  the  last  year  have  been  peculiar. 
During  half  of  it  I  have  been  only  nominally  pastor. 
I  have  seen  some  unusual  aspects  of  life.  My  way 
has  taken  me  among  camps  and  over  battle  fields, 
and  by  the  cabins  of  men  and  women  just  rising 
from  chattelhood.  It  was  an  instructive  part  of  the 
journey.  I  hope  it  has  helped  me  to  see  the  path 
for  the  future  more  clearly. 

"And  once  my  way  ran  near  to  that  valley 
through  which  we  shall  all  pass  sooner  or  later. 
The  fading  world  seemed  to  grow  dim  and  shadowy  ; 
at  times  there  was  heard  something  of  the  roar 
and  dash  of  those  waters  which  all  must  cross  some 
day  ;  and  sometimes,  for  a  little,  it  seemed  that  the 
good  -  bye  to  earthly  life  might  require  to  be  sum- 


IN    SICKNESS.  89 

moned  to  the  lip.  For  years  I  have  learned  to  look 
calmly  on  the  end  of  life  by  anticipation.  I  was 
never  calmer  than  then.  Sometimes  earthly  toil 
and  experience  seemed  a  burden  which  it  would  be 
pleasant  to  lay  down,  if  the  Great  Master's  permis- 
sion were  given  unasked, — but  whether  it  were 
longer  work  as  I  mostly  thought  it  was  to  be,  or 
speedier  rest  as  now  and  then  seemed  somewhat 
probable,  I  was  content  God  should  decide  that  as 
He  deemed  wisest  and  best.  I  have  come  back 
slowly  to  the  physical  vigor  which  is  needed  to  ena- 
ble me  to  fill  my  sphere  properly  ;  how  much  of  wis- 
dom I  have  gathered  and  what  lessons  of  consecra- 
tion I  have  learned  in  the  school  of  suffering  and 
weakness,  remains  to  be  seen.  Not  alone  that  you 
might  be  spared  the  sadness  of  missing  another  life, 
did  your  prayers  go  up  for  my  recovery,  during 
those  days  when  you  thought  the  angel  of  death 
was  hovering  over  my  chamber ;  but  I  trust  every 
petition  was  winged  and  freighted  by  the  desire  that 
the  great  objects  of  the  Gospel  might  be  furthered 
by  my  return  to  active  life.  To  live  nobly  seems  to 
me  greater  than  to  die  peacefully.  A  coward  and 
a  traitor  can  give  up  life  amid  the  battle  field, — it 
often  takes  a  patriot  and  a  hero  to  take  up  his  life 
and  march  across  other  terrible  fields  of  blood  till 
he  wins  the  final  victory." 

The  kindness,  sympathy  and  generosity  which 
gathered  with  such  meaning,  from  all  sides,  around 
him  in  these  and  other  hours  of  weakness  and  pain 
left  impressions  upon  his  heart  which  all  the  fric- 


QO  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

tions  of  life  could  not  wear  away,  nor  prolonged  ab- 
sence dim.  Here  were  his  chosen  people,  and 
amid  their  friendships,  till  life's  latest  breath,  was 
always  "  home." 

The  value  of  his  work  can  be  determined  in  part, 
at  least,  by  his  success  in  so  directing  and  instruct- 
ing his  flock,  that,  in  the  absence  of  his  leadership 
and  teaching,  their  Christian  service  was  not  slack- 
ened, but  increased,  rather,  in  noticeable  ways. 
He  counted  it  the  most  cheering  testimony  to  the 
enduring  nature  of  his  ministry,  that  their  faith  and 
active  interest  did  not  seem  dependent,  necessarily, 
upon  his  continued  presence  and  co  -  operation.  It 
is  equally  true  of  few  pastors  that  the  value  of 
labors  bestowed  in  health,  so  spans  and  keeps  fre- 
quent and  protracted  intervals  of  sickness  as  to  al- 
low, with  the  people,  scarcely  a  thought  of  a  neces- 
sity for  a  change  in  pastoral  relationship. 

It  was  painful  to  him  to  think  that  he  must  have 
been  in  his  invalid  days  the  occasion  of  anxiety, 
care,  generosity,  sacrifice  and  responsibility  :  "  To 
lie  in  any  sense  like  a  burden  upon  the  hands  and 
hearts  even  of  those  who  do  not  shrink  at  the  load, 
is  repugnant  to  my  whole  nature.  But  I  have  tried 
to  hope  that  anxiety  for  my  life  will  deepen  the  sym- 
pathy of  this  church  for  other  anxious  sufferers,  and 
even  help  to  turn  your  feet  into  the  way  of  God's 


IN     SICKNESS.  pi 

testimonies;  that  this  long,  weary  waiting  for  my 
return  to  the  post  of  duty  may  teach  you  a  more 
trustful  patience ;  this  steady  outflow  of  generous 
deeds  and  gifts  may  impart  a  deeper  meaning  to 
Christ's  saying,  « It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to 
receive ' ;  this  fresh  discovery  of  the  weakness  of  all 
mortal  helpers,  may  teach  this  people  to  depend 
more  fully  on  the  unfailing  arm ;  that  this  walk  in 
darkness  may  fix  the  disposition  to  take  the  leader- 
ship of  Christ,  this  present  grievous  chastening 
may  yield  more  abundantly  the  precious  fruits  of 
righteousness.  If  it  shall  serve  this  purpose  no 
price  is  too  great  to  pay  for  such  a  blessing." 

Yet,  notwithstanding  this  repugnance,  he  could 
write  in  one  of  his  times  of  partial  convales- 
cence :* 

".I  am  almost  willing  to  be  sick  once  in  awhile, 
in  view  of  the  culture  which  my  sympathies  secure 
through  the  many  kind  offices  which  multiply 
around  me.  My  pride  very  strongly  rebels  against 
being  laid  under  obligations,  even  in  this  way,  but 
it  even  gets  nearly  conquered  sometimes  when  I  am 
fairly  down,  and  must  be  helped,  and  am  kindly 
thought  of.  Scores  of  little  delicate,  nameless 
kindnesses  still  make  my  heart  swell,  and  bid  me 
believe  that  this  world  has  much  sweet  sunshine  in 
it.  They  are  little  and  nameless  to  the  calculating 


*December,  1853. 


p2  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

intellect,  but  great  in  the  estimate  of  the  heart, 
and  each  one  has  a  sacred  name.  Among  the  num- 
ber of  these  precious  things  was  the  basket  of  my 
favorite  apples,  and  the  little  bouquet  of  flowers, 
which  smiled  beside  my  bed  till  they  had  smiled 
rheir  life  away. 

"I  hope  always  to  be  able  to  do  some  work  — 
more  work.  I  have  sometimes  a  little  foreboding 
and  dread  of  a  useless,  nerveless,  invalid  existence. 
I  know  of  nothing  that  would  try  my  faith  and  spirit 
like  that.  I  can  not  help  praying  sometimes  :  '  If  it 
be  possible  let  this  cup  pass  from  me.'  And  I  think 
it  will  be  allowed  to  pass." 

While  engaged  with  his  experiences  in  the  army 
his  concern  for  those  with  whom  he  had  associated 
at  home  was  greatly  quickened.  His  remembrance 
of  the  prayer  meeting,  the  Sunday  school  and  the 
congregation  was  conveyed  to  each  by  letters 
wherein  he  exhibits  the  aspects  of  his  work  and  his 
prayerful  interest  for  them.  Liberal  extracts  are 
found  among  the  correspondence  at  the  end  of  this 
chapter. 

Another  alarming  illness  was  suffered  in  the 
spring  and  summer  of  1865.  After  rallying  from  it 
a  little,  a  tour  in  Europe  and  the  East  was  proposed 
to  him.  His  prostration  being  made  the  subject  of 
special  remark  at  the  General  Conference  at  Lewis- 
ton,  Me.,  in  October,  generous,  and  somewhat  gener- 
al response  was  made  to  a  suggestion  that  not  only 


SECOND     TOUR    ABROAD.  93 

the  sympathies  but  the  financial  help  of  the  Confer- 
ence be  extended  him.  With  the  impression  that 
foreign  travel  would  be  highly  beneficial,  and  to 
encourage  him  to  pursue  it,  several  hundred  dollars 
were  readily  and  cheerfully  pledged  toward  his  ex- 
penses,—  another  >  proof  of  the  wide  and  deep 
interest  attending  him  from  the  denomination  at 
large. 

Having  decided  upon  an  extensive  tour  abroad, 
in  the  sermon  of  the  Sunday  before  his  departure 
he  addressed  his  congregation  as  follows  : 

"  Many  of  you  may  think  if  you  were  going  with 
me  you  would  see,  feel,  believe  and  live, —  that  I 
can  hardly  help  doing  so.  But  it  will  depend 
greatly  on  my  spirit  —  mostly,  indeed,  on  that. 

"  These  renowned  spots  and  lands  are  what  they 
are  because  the  moral  heroes  of  their  time, —  the 
seers  whose  eyes  grew  keen  with  their  steady  up  - 
look ;  and  the  Saviour  whose  touch  hallowed  every 
thing,  have  made  the  whole  land  Holy.  I  hope  for 
profit,  but  a  true  soul  and  life  may  hallow  the  com- 
monest sphere  and  task  at  home.  I  hope  to  add 
something  to  the  strength  of  conviction,  something 
to  the  vividness  of  feeling,  to  the  firmness  of  the 
grasp  of  faith,  to  the  unction  of  the  confession : 
'  Behold  the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men  !  ' 

"  But  I  feel  that  the  forces  of  God's  kingdom  are 
in  constant  and  effective  exercise  here.  Through 
our  furnace  of  fire  which  has  flamed  for  years,  the 


94 


GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 


glorious  form  has  been  walking.  In  all  that  has 
worked  toward  the  regeneration  of  this  people  I 
trace  the  movement  of  a  divine  energy.  I  do  not 
leave  a  desolate  and  Heaven  -  forsaken  land,  for 
the  footsteps  of  the  Highest  echo  across  the  conti- 
nent. I  shall  study  other  lands  as  embodying  the 
significant  past  of  humanity ;  but  I  shall  turn  to 
ours  as  the  highway  over  which  the  race  is  to 
march  to  a  higher  goal  and  a  truer  glory. 

' '  My  position  and  relations  here  to  -  day  might 
seem  to  invite  a  retrospect  of  the  eight  significant 
years  in  our  life  as  pastor  and  people.  The  story 
is  too  long ;  some  of  its  paragraphs  are  too  peculiar, 
or  touching,  or  sacred  for  a  public  rehearsal.  The 
kind  and  encouraging  words  which  were  not  meant 
for  flattery  to  pride  ;  the  generosity  which  has  kept 
on  with  its  unostentatious  offerings,  through  long 
delays  and  beneath  burdens  which  it  would  riot  own 
were  heavy  even  when  they  pressed  the  spirit  into 
anxiety ;  the  charity  which  has  covered  many  fail- 
ures and  much  unfaithfulness  ;  the  Sunday  gather- 
ings when  each  hour  of  worship  lifted  us  nearer 
Heaven ;  the  evening  prayer  circles,  when  our 
hearts  thrilled  in  unison,  or  melted  in  sympathy,  or 
were  stirred  by  a  better  purpose,  as  we  communed  of 
Christ,  or  prayed  for  a  trembling  penitent,  or  sur- 
veyed our  field  of  labor ;  the  solemn  hours  when 
you  have  taken  the  veil  from  your  burdened  hearts, 
and  I  have  helped  you  tell  the  sad  story  to  God ; 
the  seasons  w.hen  we  have  rejoiced  together  —  all 
come  up  freshly  and  vividly  before  me  at  this  hour." 


GENERAL     BAPTIST     ASSOCIATION.  95 

Sailing  from  New  York,  he  arrived  in  England 
in  the  early  part  of  December.  Thence,  after  a  few 
days  of  rest  he  went  to  Paris,  on  to  Italy,  and 
across  the  Mediterranean  to  Egypt.  Crossing  the 
desert  by  the  way  of  Mt.  Sinai,  he  visited  Pales- 
tine, and  reached  England  again,  by  way  of 
Constantinople,  Vienna,  and  through  Switzer- 
land. 

During  his  protracted  stay  in  England  he  at- 
tended the  meeting,  in  June,  1866,  of  the  General 
Baptist  Association  at  Loughborough,  as  a  dele- 
gate from  our  General  Conference.  He  says 
of  it: 

"  I  do  not  know  whether  it  was  an  oversight,  or 
whether  credentials  were  supposed  to  be  needless, 
but  so  it  was  that  we  appeared  at  this  trans  -  Atlan- 
tic gathering  without  any  sort  of  attestation  of  our 
appointment  as  a  deputation  to  our  brethren  here. 
I  did  not  know  this  until  a  late  stage  in  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Association,  or  I  might  have  suffered  a 
little  mental  discomfort.  But,  welcomed  at  once  by 
a  resolution,  moved  by  Dr.  Burns  and  seconded  by 
Bro.  Goadby,  overflowing  with  Christian  kindness 
and  courtesy,  there  was  promptly  accorded  us  by 
the  assembly  a  greeting  in  which  the  English  heart 
spoke  out  in  its  best  tone,  and  called  into  play  its 
noblest  impulses.  After  that,  there  was  no  room 
for  anxiety  or  distrust.  I  was  too  grateful  to  be 
proud  just  then,  too  conscious  of  being  treated  with 


96  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

an  excess  of  confidence  and  kindness,  to  find  room 
for  anything  hostile  to  humility  and  home  feeling. 
.  .  .  New  cords  have  attached  my  heart  to  the 
fatherland  which  are  in  no  danger  of  breaking 
when  stretched  across  the  sea." 

Again  referring  to  these  gratifying  experiences, 
he  says : 

"  The  two  or  three  days  spent  in  Nottingham  — 
including  a  Sabbath  —  were  filled  with  a  varied  in- 
terest. The  thorough,  unmistakable  heartiness 
with  which  we  were  welcomed  to  the  very  central 
circle  of  the  Christian  homes  of  England,  was  more 
grateful  and  touching  —  especially  after  the  long 
months  of  wandering  as  pilgrims  and  strangers  — 
than  I  dare  attempt  to  tell.  I  had  allowed  myself 
to  anticipate,  as  a  representative  of  the  Free  Baptist 
denomination  in  America,  a  kindly  and  dignified 
English  courtesy ;  but  I  had  not  dreamed  of  such  a 
warm,  unreserved,  affectionate  greeting  as  was  at 
once  accorded  to  us  by  not  a  few  of  the  noblest  and 
best  among  our  trans  -  Atlantic  brethren.  There 
was  no  show,  no  voluble  profession  of  regard,  no 
ostentatious  demonstrativeness  from  first  to  last. 
Instead  of  words  there  were  quiet  courtesies  that 
forbade  formal  notice  ;  the  perpetual  surrounding  us 
with  an  atmosphere  that  either  took  off  the  weight 
of  conscious  obligation  or  made  its  pressure  deli- 
cious,—  in  a  word,  the  feeling  that  we  were  at  home 
was  made  to  overspread  and  permeate  the  whole 
social  experience.  When  the  English  heart  wakes, 
its  movements  are  strong,  and  we  have  felt  the 


"  HOME    AGAIN."  97 

beating.  Bridge  over  fairly  the  chasm  of  English 
reserve  and  self-assertion,  and  the  fellowship  is 
like  the  manly  love  of  brothers.  Rouse  the  enthu- 
siasm of  an  English  audience,  even  at  a  religious 
anniversary,  and  it  storms  out  its  kindled  feeling  in 
a  way  that  puts  to  naught  the  explosions  of  a  wes- 
tern political  convention.  All  this  we  have  seen 
and  felt." 

After  bidding  farewell  to  England  he  visited  the 
Scottish  Highlands,  lona,  and  the  cave  of  Staffa; 
returning  to  Glasgow,  crossed  the  Irish  Sea  to  Bel- 
fast; thence  in  a  week's  time  to  Queenstown, —  em- 
barking for  home  from  the  latter  city,  Aug.  i6th. 
"  NEW  YORK  HARBOR,  Aug.  25,  1866. 

"  We  have  just  sailed  up  the  Narrows,  past  the 
forts,  around  Castle  Garden,  the  forest  of  masts 
half  revealing  and  half  hiding  the  greatness  of  the 
American  metropolis.  America  greets  me  at  last, 
and  I  answer  her  silent  salutation  with  heart - 
bounds  and  moistening  of  the  eyes.  I  put  the  treas- 
ured memories  of  the  old  world  into  the  keeping  of 
my  spirit,  and  am  content  to  leave  that  world  behind 
me ;  I  grasp  the  mighty  possibilities  of  the  new 
world  with  my  affection,  and  seek  an  abiding  place 
beneath  the  skies  that  brood  over  it  like  the  stoop 
of  God's  love.  Europe  and  the  East  are  pleasant 
schools  for  the  mind ;  America  is  the  home  of  the 
heart." 

"  PROVIDENCE,  Aug.  27. 

" '  Home  again  I y    God  be  thanked  for  his  guardi- 


p8  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

anship  over  those  whose  lives  are  so  closely  linked 
to  mine  !  I  hear  with  gratitude  of  the  safe  arrival  ' 
of  Bro.  Dunn  and  son,  companions  in  a  portion  of 
life  which  will  never  cease  to  be  memorable,  and 
which  they  have  done  so  much  to  invest  with  inter- 
est. Heaven  keep  them  and  theirs  in  its  care  for- 
ever ;  and  may  all  the  readers  of  the  Star  —  espe- 
cially those  who,  with  such  unexpected  and  unde- 
served generosity,  aided  in  opening  my  way  to  the 
wonders  and  sanctities  of  the  Orient,  .and  have  fol- 
lowed our  course  of  travel  with  their  sympathies  and 
prayers — may  all  these  find  the  gates  of  a  land 
still  more  glorious,  open  at  once  to  their  coming 
when  their  feet  press  the  threshold  of  immortality." 

Although  not  reaping  all  that  was  hoped  from 
this  tour,  it  imparted  considerable  gain  to  bodily 
and  mental  strength,  so  that  he  was  enabled  to  re- 
sume pastoral  duties  with  much  greater  courage 
and  efficiency.  Still,  in  looking  back  upon  it,  he 
was  compelled  to  admit  that  it  had  been  too  ex- 
hausting for  his  enfeebled  physical  condition,  and 
for  the  fullest  recovery  of  mental  power. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  corporation  of  Bates 
College,  preceding  his  return,  he  was  elected  pro- 
fessor of  Rhetoric  and  English  Literature.  In  Oc- 
tober following,  a  convention  of  fifty  ministers  in 
'Connection  with  the  Anniversaries  at  Lawrence, 
Mass.,  met  to  urge  upon  him  the  call  of  the  col- 


RESIGNATION    AT    PROVIDENCE.  99 

lege;  declaring  that,  "in  the  opinion  of  this  con- 
vention of  ministers,  it  would  be  for  the  glory  of 
God  for  our  beloved  brother,  Rev.  G.  T.  Day,  to 
accept  the  professorship  in  Bates  College  to  which 
he  has  been  elected ;  and  we  respectfully  recom- 
mend the  church  of  which  he  is  pastor,  to  release 
him  for  that  purpose." 

On  the  death  of  William  Burr,  for  many  years 
editor  and  manager  of  the  Morning  Star,  in  No- 
vember, 1866,  attention  was  directed  to  Mr.  Day  as 
his  successor  in  the  editorial  chair.  On  the  as- 
sembling of  the  corporators  of  the  Star  for  the  pur- 
pose of  choosing  a  successor  to  the  vacant  post,  his 
eminent  fitness  for  it  was  freely  conceded,  but  be- 
cause of  the  claims  of  the  College,  and  the  feeling 
represented  by  the  action  at  Lawrence,  together 
with  his  unreliable  health,  his  election  was  not  at 
the  outset  secured  by  the  requisite  number  of  votes. 

Being  elected  at  length  by  a  unanimous  vote,  the 
Board  united  in  asking  the  Roger  Williams  church 
to  release  him  from  his  engagement  with  it  at  once. 
In  harmony  with  this  request,  he  presented  his  resig- 
nation Dec.  n,  1866,  to  take  effect  immediately, 
that  he  might  enter  upon  his  newly  chosen  duties. 

With  great  reluctance,  the  church  accepted  his 
resignation ;  waiving  its  claim  to  three  months' 
notice  and  labor,  that  no  obstacle  might  frustrate 


ICQ  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

his  wishes,  or  lie  in  his  chosen  path  ;  and  recorded 
its  farewell  in  words  of  consideration,  regret,  ten- 
derness and  appreciation,  as  it  dismissed  him  to  the 
wiler  fellowship  and  service  of  the  entire  sisterhood 
of  churches.  Its  resolutions,  having  reference  to 
the  event,  close  as  follows  : 

"  Though  our  judgment,  generosity,  gratitude 
and  faith  prompt  us  cheerfully  and  hopefully  to 
consent  to  this  separation,  yet  these  sacred  ties,  ce- 
mented by  years  of  varied  experience,  in  public  and 
social  meetings,  in  our  home  circles,  amid  our  high- 
est joys  and  deepest  sorrows,  uniting  us  with  one  so 
pure,  so  wise,  so  true  as  our  pastor  has  ever  proved 
himself,  can  not  be  sundered  without  heart-throbs 
too  deep  and  strong  for  words  to  express.  .  .  .  We 
shall  ever  cherish  the  memory  of  our  retiring  pas- 
tor as  a  dear  personal  friend,  in  whose  sympathies 
and  prayers  we  hope  ever  to  find  a  place  ;  and  we 
desire  for,  and  will  ask  God  to  give  to  him  large 
physical,  social  and  spiritual  blessings,  with  many 
added  years  of  successful  Christian  work." 

In  connection  with  his  farewell  sermon,  Dec. 
I3th,  he  spoke  as  follows : 

"  It  is  natural  for  me  to  -  day  to  refer  to  my  work 
for  some  ten  years  in  this  pulpit,  as  now  I  step  out 
of  it,  perhaps  finally  from  all  pastoral  work. 

"  Let  me  be  understood  in  leaving  the  pulpit. 
It  is  a  glorious  sphere,  notwithstanding  its  perplexi- 
ties and  privations.  I  never  prized  it  more  than 
to  -  day.  Deliberately  I  never  repented  of  choosing 


FAREWELL    SERMON.  IOI 

it.  Ambition  has  sometimes  whispered,  and  trial 
has  now  and  then  forced  out  a  sigh  for  rest,  and 
hopes  deferred  hare  begotten  temporary  heart  -  sick- 
ness ;  but  to  be  daily  busy  with  the  great  thoughts 
which  Christ  has  filled  with  inspiration,  and  to  deal 
with  men  in  relation  to  the  grandest  interests  that 
pertain  to  them,  have  brought  deep  peace,  and 
flooded  life  with  heavenly  splendor.  Judged  at  the 
end  of  this  experience,  I  would  make  the  same 
choice  were  I  a  young  man  to  -  day.  I  would  seek 
a  fuller  fitting;  I  would  try  to  till  out  more  nearly 
my  ideal  through  a  higher  work,  so  that  I  might 
blunder  less  and  accomplish  more.  There  are 
young  men  here  to  whom  I  commend  it,  and  be- 
seech them  to  ask  if  their  working  programme  had 
not  better  be  made  out  in  view  of  that  sphere.  I 
have  hesitated  on  that  ground  to  accept  any  other 
position  for  all  these  years  ;  I  could  not  have  decid- 
ed to  take  the  place  awaiting  me,  but  that  I  deemed 
it  the  condition  of  prolonged  service  anywhere,  and 
as  still  offering  the  opportunity  to  work  in  the  same 
general  line  of  Christian  education.  I  am  yet  to 
preach,  not  with  the  voice  in  one  pulpit,  but  in  an- 
other way,  around  thousands  of  hearth -stones. 
Still,  as  before,  I  count  the  sphere  Christian,  and  the 
implement  the  blessed  Gospel. 

if  I  have  sought  to  make  you  intelligent,  practical 
Christians  in  your  varied  spheres  of  life.  Upon  a 
genuine  conversion  to  Christ  I  have  insisted,  as  the 
vital  thing.  But  I  have  not  been  content  with  a  few 
penitential  tears,  nor  an  open  profession,  nor  an  oc- 


IO2  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

casional  gush  of  feeling  or  a  fierce  flame  of  zeal. 
I  wanted  your  religion  fortified  by  intelligence  and 
illustrated  in  life.  And  so  I  have  spoken  to  the  un- 
derstanding and  the  conscience. 

"  Of  the  relations  subsisting  between  us,  there  is 
no  need  to  speak  here  and  now.  It  is  probably 
enough  to  say  publicly  that  I  have  always  found 
warm  hearts,  kind  sympathies,  charitable  judg- 
ments, and  whatever  else  contributes  to  make  the 
ministry  turn  its  sunny  side  toward  me  ;  have  had 
much  for  which  I  am  grateful  to  both  God  and  you ; 
have  not,  I  hope,  seemed  unappreciative,  because 
I  have  not  multiplied  words.  I  trust  we  understand 
each  other,  by  this  time,  well  enough  to  enable  us 
•to  confide  when  we  can  not  always  clearly  see. 
May  God  reward  all  your  kindness  in  the  truest  way 
and  the  largest  measure. 

"  I  trust  not  one  of  you  mingles  the  feeling  of  dis- 
couragement with  the  regret  which  arises  over  my 
departure.  My  work  is  to  be  made  manifest.  Should 
interest  abate,  and  fidelity  lessen,  on  the  part  of 
those  who  have  seemed  to  grow  up  into  Christian 
character  under  my  teaching,  just  because  I  had 
gone,  it  would  naturally  enough  awaken  a  doubt 
whether  the  teaching  itself  were  not  radically  faulty. 
If  there  is  now  a  harder  task  and  a  more  self-  sac- 
rificing service,  apparently,  before  you,  you  may 
properly  look  upon  it  as  God's  offer  of  a  more  hero- 
ic work,  the  doing  of  which  will  add  to  your  own 
moral  nobleness. 

"My  pastoral  work  ends  here;  but  there  is  no 


FAREWELL    SERMON.  IO3 

danger  that  my  sympathies  will  at  once  detach 
themselves  from  the  sphere  and  circle  to  which  ten 
years  of  significant  service  and  experience  have 
wedded  them.  We  shall  be  workers  in  the  common 
field  still.  Give  to  my  successor  the  confidence  and 
co-operation  which  he  needs,  welcome  his  service 
and  his  teaching  as  you  have  welcomed  mine,  and 
there  is  little  ground  for  fear  that  any  great  dearth 
will  fall  upon  you. 

"  Let  us  one  and  all  hallow  this  day,  and  place, 
and  service,  with  a  common  vow  that  our  work  shall 
henceforth  be  Christian,  and  then  its  manifestation 
will  be  glorious ;  and  then  we  can  recall  our  rela- 
tionships always,  with  a  feeling  of  sacred  joy, 
thanking  God  for  the  satisfaction  they  have  yielded 
us. 

"And  now,  brethren,  sisters,  friends,  farewell. 
Be  of  good  comfort,  live  in  peace,  and  the  God  of 
love  and  peace  will  surely  be  with  you.  And 
though  we  thus  separate,  we  will  do  it  hopefully, 
looking  forward  gratefully  to  that  hour  of  reunion 
when  the  heart  shall  be  satisfied  because  it  wears 
God's  likeness,  and  the  soul  joyous  evermore  be- 
cause his  smile  is  upon  us,  in 

'  The  land  upon  whose  blissful  shore 
There  rests  no  shadow,  falls  no  stain ; 
There  those  who  meet  shall  part  no  more, 
And  those  long  parted  meet  again.'" 


104 


GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 


LETTERS. 


His  correspondence  was  not  extensive,  at  least  not 
in  the  directions  which  would  show  in  an  intimate 
manner  his  spiritual  and  mental  experiences.  The 
few  extracts  which  are  here  given  will  aid  in  reveal- 
ing both  mind  and  heart.  Those  not  otherwise 
designated  were  addressed  to  the  author : 

"Nov.  4,  1858. 

"  I  was  very  glad  to  get  your  letter.  It 
was  just  such  an  informal,  genial,  and 
hearty  epistle,  as  always  pleases  me.  I  do  not 
feel  that  you  need  to  be  very  severely  castigated  for 
any  presumption  implied  in  the  feeling  of  brother!}' 
sympathy,  nor  for  the  expression  of  it.  You  know 
I  am  partially  conscious  of  my  strong  individualism, 
and  rather  regret  some  phases,  developments  and 
effects  of  it,  and  so  I  am  always  glad  when  I  find 
anybody  feeling  that  there  is  really  anything  like 
real  personal  sympathy  growing  up  around  and  for 
me.  It  is  not  alone  because  of  the  gratification 
which  the  compliment  brings,  but  because  of  the 
evidence  afforded  that  I  am  really  living  outside  of 
and  beyond  myself.  " 

"  Nov.  30,  1858. 

:•  .  "  Madam  Rumor  is  not  less  busy  than 
usual,  and  she  does  me  the  honor  of  utter- 
ing my  name  in  most  ludicrous  connections 
once  in  a  while.  The  latest  thing  I  have  heard  is, 
that  the  '  spirits'  so  deal  with  me  that  I  cm  't  sleep, 


LETTERS.  IO5 

that  my  pen  goes  belter  -  skelter  all  over  the  page 
whenever  I  attempt  to  write  (that  was  always 
rather  more  than  half  true) ,  and  that  at  length  I 
was  forced  to  consult  certain  Spiritualists  for  relief; 
who  told  me,  of  course,  that  I  must  yield  to  the 
sacred  influence  or  suffer  'many  stripes,'  and  urged 
me  to  leave  preaching  Freewill  Baptist  theology 
and  devote  myself  to  the  '  progressive  '  gospel  of 
'  Spiritualism. '  That  is  seriously  told  for  just  so 
much  truth  from  Smith's  Hill,  around  Market 
Square,  and  out  to  West  Providence,  and  as  seri- 
ously believed  by  some  really  good  people. 

"This  is  just  as  true  as  that  I  had  learned  the- 
ology of  Jupiter  (the  planet !),  or  that  I  had  been 
negotiating  with  the  comet  to  give  me  a  ride  to  the 
Pleiades.  I  shall  be  in  danger  of  feeling  that  I  am 
somebody,  and  that  my  opinions  are  weighty  mat- 
ters, if  I  am  to  be  honored  in  this  way  much 
longer.  *  Spiritualism '  I  take  for  so  much — 'bosh' ! 
and  its  supporters  I  can't  help  looking  upon  as  hon- 
est *  gullibles',  or  covert  pharisees,  making  lofty 
pretensions  to  hide  the  lowest  purposes.  '  Quantum 
sufficit. ' " 

"Jan.  19,  1859. 

"I  preached  an  hour  and  a  half  last  Sun- 
day afternoon  on  Modern  Spiritualism ;  and 
am  rather  intending  to  preach  a  shorter  time  next 
Sunday  afternoon,  on  Modern  Universalism.  The 
other  sermon  caused  some  fluttering,  an  indication 
perhaps  that  the  shot  took  effect.  Do  n't  think 
Madam  Rumor  will  repeat  the  charge  of  Spiritual- 
ism upon  me  this  week  or  next. 


IO6  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

"  Have  just  received  a  long  and  strong  letter 
from  Hillsdale,  saying  that  the  removal  of  Prof. 
Churchill  to  Oberlin  has  led  to  my  appointment  to 
the  vacant  Professorship  ;  and  after  the  case  is  argu- 
ed earnestly  awhile,  I  am  told  that  farther  reasoning 
is  needless,  that  I  must  go  out  there,  and  that  is  the 
end  of  it.  I  have  not  yet  replied,  and  really  I  find 
it  difficult  to  decide  what  to  reply.  It  would  save 
us  much  hard  and  perplexing  study  if  we  had  per- 
petual and  plenary  inspiration.  I  do  n't  say  I  think 
it  unfortunate  that  we  have  not.  " 

"Feb.  5,  1859. 

"  I  preached  as  I  proposed,  on  Universal- 
ism  ;  not  less  but  more  than  an  hour  and 
a  half.  I  have  had  no  occasion  yet  to  question 
the  propriety  of  my  preaching  on  those  two  subjects, 
nor  of  seriously  doubting  the  propriety  of  the  meth- 
od of  discussion  adopted.  Some  of  the  Spiritual- 
ists are  a  good  deal  stirred,  complaining  of  severe 
things  said  in  the  way  of  illustration,  though  gener- 
ally admitting  the  fairness  of  the  argument.  I 
shall  not  ^probably  be  accused  of  being  either  a 
Spiritualist  or  a  Universalist,  this  month  nor  next, 
unless  some  new  developments  take  place.  " 

"  Feb.  21,  1859. 

•  •  "It  is  in  the  nature  of  technical  theo- 
logians to  be  creed  -  hunters  and  creed - 
critics.  Such  a  class  of  men  are  needed,  I 
think ;  though  from  some  cause  their  ministry  does 
not  awaken  my  envy,  nor  excite  my  admiration  as 
much  as  once  it  did.  The  fact  is,  you  can't  tell 


LETTERS.  IO7 

what  the  real  theology  of  a  denomination  is  by  look- 
ing over  its  confession  of  faith.  The  words  mean 
different  things  to  different  persons  ;  and  besides, 
many  men  assent  honestly  to  a  confession  of  faith 
when  their  real,  living,  practical  theology  is  some 
other  and  some  very  different  thing. 

.  .  .  "  I  have  read  with  some  sadness,  some 
merriment,  and  a  little  pity,  the  recent  pamphlet 
of  Rev.  Parsons  Cooke  which  you  sent  me.  I  sup- 
pose bigoted  conservatives  have  a  mission  in  this 
world ;  they  are  a  sort  of  offset  to  the  reckless  and 
crusading  radicals  which  more  or  less  abound  in 
society.  Garrison  and  Theodore  Parker  on  one 
side  of  an  equation,  and  Parsons  Cooke  and  N. 
Adams  on  the  other, — what  an  algebraic  formula  that 
would  make  !  It  might  seem  absurd,  but  I  am  not 
sure  that  it  might  not  express  a  good  deal  of  deep 
moral  truth.  Prof.  Park's  theology  is  far  less  grim 
and  savage  than  Cooke's,  but  I  can 't  acquiesce 
very  cordially  in  all  the  doctrines  of  the  New 
School  party.  The  freedom  of  all  men,  and  their 
perfect  ability  to  accept  the  provisions  of  the  Gospel 
and  be  saved,  I  know  are  points  strongly  asserted ; 
but  much  of  the  significance  of  those  statements 
seems  to  me  to  be  frittered  away  when  it  is  added, 
that,  such  is  the  depravity  of  all  hearts,  no  man 
ever  did  come,  or  can  be  expected  to  come,  to  Christ, 
save  as  God  specially  and  effectively  influences  him 
to  do  so.  That  scheme  gets  rid  of  a  difficulty  in  a 
logical  way ;  but  practically  it  stands  very  close  to 
the  system  it  repudiates  and  fights.  But  I  am  writing 


IO8  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

a  letter  of  theology  ;   a  thing  I  do  n't  think  it  often 
proper  or  needful  to  do.  " 

"  March  7,  1859. 

.  .  .  "  Have  you  seen  Dr.  Bushnell's  recent 
work,  'Nature  and  the  Supernatural'?  'It  is  the 
most  important  contribution  to  theological  science 
which  has  been  recently  made.  It  deals  a  powerful 
and  effective  blow  against  the  rationalism  or 
naturalism  which  is  becoming  so  rife.  I  don 't 
readily  concur  in  all  his  definitions,  nor  in  all  his 
points  in  detail ;  but  the  main  argument  is  full  of 
strength,  and  the  sweep  of  thought  is  full  of  sub- 
lime and  Christian  majesty.  His  portraiture  of 
Christ  surpasses  anything  I  have  ever  met  in  that 
line, — the  apprehension  is  wonderfully  deep  and 
clear,  the  study  is  that  of  the  profound  philosopher, 
the  grateful  reverence  is  such  as  only  a  deep- 
hearted  Christian  can  feel.  It  will  richly  repay  a 
reading ;  it  will  yield  its  large  and  peculiar  wealth 
only  to  diligent  and  thoughtful  study.  " 

"  PROVIDENCE,  May  20,  1861. 
"To  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  FINANCE  :  In  view  of 
the  peculiar  circumstances  surrounding  us  during 
the  present  financial  year,  rendering  it  difficult  to 
meet  the  expenses  likely  to  be  incurred,  I  hereby 
relinquish  my  claim  to  two  hundred  dollars  of  the 
twelve,  hundred  dollars  appropriated  as  salary  for 
the  pastor,  and  ask  your  acceptance  of  the  sum 
named,  in  the  same  cordial  spirit  in  which  it  is 
tendered.  It  is  rather  a  privilege  than  otherwise,  to 
assist  in  bearing  the  burdens  which  our  great 


LETTERS. 

national  struggle  is  laying  upon  the  people,  and  es- 
pecially those  which  it  is  laying  upon  our  own 
Church  and  Society.  " 

"  WARRENTON,  VA.,  April  6,  1864. 

"DEAR  ROGER  WILLIAMS  SUNDAY  SCHOOL: 
Have  you  ever  feared  that  I  had  forgotten  you, 
amid  so  many  new  and  strange  things?  There  is 
no  danger  that  I  shall  do  that.  I  carry  the  picture 
of  our  vestry  at  home,  as  it  appears  on  Sunday 
mornings,  hanging  all  the  while  in  my  memory  ; 
and  I  turn  to  it  over  and  over  again.  I  remember 
just  where  each  teacher  was  accustomed  to  sit,  and 
the  faces  of  many  of  the  pupils  are  remembered  as 
distinctly  as  though  I  had  just  been  singing  with 
you  some  'inspiring  hymn,  as  'Saviour,  like  a 
Shepherd  lead  us, '  or,  *  The  Sunday  school,  that 
blessed  place. '  It  always  seemed  a  blessed  place 
to  me ;  and  now,  amid  these  desolations  of  war, 
where  Sunday  schools  are  mostly  broken  up,  where 
churches  are  turned  into  barracks  and  hospitals,  or 
left  silent  and  desolate,  it  seems  to  me  twice  blessed. 
I  have  thanked  God  many  times  that  the  desolations 
of  war  have  not  passed,  like  a  destroying  angel, 
over  our  blessed  New  England. 

"  I  can  not  tell  you  much  of  what  I  have  seen, 
within  the  limits  of  a  short  letter.  When  I  say 
that  I  have  slept  in  tents  ;  preached  in  the  open  air 
to  a  company  of  soldiers  standing  eagerly  around ; 
distributed  papers,  tracts  and  books,  and  spoken  a 
kindly  word,  to  such  as  were  cheerful  to  receive 
them  ;  that  I  have  helped  to  cook  and  eat  not  a  few 


IIO  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

dinners  in  a  deserted  church;  that  I  have  seen 
many  hard,  stubborn  men,  who  had  been  careless 
and  profane  for  years,  get  up  in  the  prayer  meet- 
ing, tell  how  they  had  remembered  the  prayers  and 
Sunday  school  lessons  of  their  childhood,  and 
that  now  they  were  ready  and  determined  to  obey 
the  truth,  and  become  good  soldiers  of  Christ, — 
when  I  tell  you  that  I  have  seen  all  this,  you  will 
understand  that  it  is  hard  to  write  you  a  letter ;  not 
because  there  is  so  little  to  tell  you,  but  because 
there  is  so  much. 

"  The  men  have  got  beyond  the  romance  of  war, 
and  now  feel  its  realities.  It  is  not  now  animal  ex- 
citement that  stirs  them.  The  hour  for  reflection 
has  come.  They  are  taught  to  despise  shams,  and 
feel  that  the  real  and  substantial  are  only  worth 
seeking.  Their  perils,  wounds,  hardships,  the 
graves  of  their  comrades,  the  memories  of  Chris- 
tian homes,  have  disposed  them  to  receive  the  spe- 
cial influences  set  in  motion  by  the  Commission.  I 
am  sure  if  you  could  sit,  as  I  have  many  times,  in 
the  chapel  or  smaller  tents,  see  the  men  rise  to  ex- 
press their  purpose  to  be  Christians,  listen  to  their 
confessions  and  stories  of  the  inward  struggle,  mark 
the  simplicity,  fervor,  directness  and  force  of  their 
prayers,  hear  the  straightforward  words  in  which 
they  speak  of  their  life  as  it  has  been,  and  as,  with 
God's  blessing,  they  mean  it  shall  be,  — you  would 
feel  that  there  were  depth,  sincerity  and  power  in 
their  religious  life.  You  see  little  hesitation ;  men 
do  not  talk  much  for  talk's  sake  ;  but  the  plain,  reso- 


LETTERS.  Ill 

lute,  yet  modest  utterances  of  men  who  feel  the 
seriousness  of  their  undertaking,  and  who  mean,  in 
God's  name,  to  accomplish  it. 

"  A  few  nights  since,  at  the  close  of  a  brief  ser- 
mon which  I  was  permitted  to  preach,  in  response 
to  a  simple  suggestion,  six  men  arose  at  once,  with 
the  most  calm  deliberation,  to  express  their  purpose 
to  be  Christians.  The  number  is  sometimes  twenty 
in  a  single  evening.  The  firm,  yet  tender  grasp  of 
their  hands  as  they  crowd  up  to  greet  the  speaker, 
and  say,  '  God  bless  you, '  makes  me  feel  at  once 
among  brothers.  We  know  what  the  expression 
means,  '  one  in  Christ  Jesus. ' 

"  But  I  must  stop,  leaving  wholly  out  some  most 
touching  incidents  which  I  will  keep  for  my  return. 
Meanwhile,  let  me  ask  you  to  pray  much  for  the 
army.  " 

"  WARRENTON,  VA.,  April  7,  1864. 

"To  THE  SUNDAY  EVENING  MEETING.  No  Sun- 
day evening  has  passed  since  I  left  Providence 
without  bringing  me  some  reminders  of  the  place 
where  I  have  spent  so  many  pleasant  and  profitable 
hours  in  conference  and  prayer. 

"  I  read  the  same  words  for  needed  instruction 
and  comfort  now,  which  I  used  to  read  out  of  the 
Gospel  with  you,  and  they  bring  me  the  same  blessing 
as  before;  I  lift  up  my  prayer  to  the  same  great 
Helper,  and  find  his  grace  comes  to  me  to  minister 
strength  as  I  need  it,  just  as  it  has  for  years.  I 
find  no  other  word  that  reaches  my  heart  -  wants, 
and  can  turn  to  no  other  mighty  one  who  bears  up 


112  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

my  weakness  with  his  unfailing  power.  I  only 
desire  to  trust  him  more  fully,  to  realize  more  of  his 
influence,  and  to  honor  him  with  a  larger  service.  " 
"  NORFOLK,  VA.,  April  26,  1864. 

"  To  MY  CONGREGATION  AT  THE  ROGER  WIL- 
LIAMS CHURCH  :  The  lapse  of  time  does  not  make 
me  forget  the  faces  that  have,  on  so  many  Sundays, 
looked  up  into  my  own,  nor  beget  in  my  heart  any 
indifference  over  the  interests  of  the  people  who 
call  me  pastor. .  I  think  of  you  as  my  congrega- 
tion ;  you  still  are  my  flock,  though  for  the  time  I 
am  compelled  to  commit  you,  in  a  peculiar  sense,  to 
the  watchful  care  of  the  Great  Shepherd.  So  I  send 
you  a  letter,  grateful  over  the  privilege  of  speaking 
to  you  at  all,  and  desiring  to  say  something  that 
may  interest  and  do  you  good. 

"  Since  we  have  had  a  national  army  in  the  field, 
I  have  desired  to  see  and  know  its  character  and 
life;  and  since  the  thunderbolts  of  war  have  been 
shivering  the  fetters  of  the  slaves,  I  have  been  anx- 
ious to  witness  their  march  into  the  land  of  their 
patient  faith  and  long -trusted  promise.  I  wished 
to  understand  both  these  matters,  that  I  might  more 
wisely  do  my  own  personal  work  respecting  them, 
and  aid  in  helping  others  to  know  and  perform 
their  duty.  I  believe  I  have  gained  something  in 
patriotism,— that  I  prize  the  cause  of  the  Union 
more  ;  and  I  find  my  abhorrence  of  the  rebellion,  as 
a  needless,  selfish,  wicked  plot  against  liberty,  jus- 
tice and  honor,  is  deeper  than  ever  before.  If  I 
have  condemned  slavery  heretofore,  as  founded  in 


LETTERS.  113 

violence  and  outrage,  paralyzing  the  best  energies 
and  poisoning  the  very  heart  of  the  nation,  I  find 
now  that  my  opposition  to  it  has  been  far  too  weak, 
and  my  protests  tame.  If  I  have  been  lukewarm 
heretofore,  God  helping  me,  I  will  endeavor  to  be  a 
patriot  and  an  abolitionist  hereafter.  If  I  have  not 
preached  loyalty  and  freedom  as  vital  necessities  in 
the  life  of  a  nation  or  a  man,  I  mean  my  sermons 
shall  be  plain  on  that  point  when  I  stand  in  the  pul- 
pit again.  If  I  have  not  pleaded  for  a  religious 
spirit  broad  and  strong  enough  to  undertake  reso- 
lutely the  work  of  lifting  our  whole  public  life  up  to 
the  plane  of  moral  and  Christian  principle,  I  hope 
nobody  may  have  a  chance  to  doubt  hereafter  that 
I  aim  at  the  fulfillment  of  the  prayer — '  Thy  king- 
dom come.' 

.  .  .  "  There  is  a  thoughtful,  direct  earnest- 
ness in  the  soldier's  religion.  The  work  he  'is  set 
to  do  is  of  the  decisive,  practical  kind ;  and  he 
generally  takes  hold  of  his  religious  work  in  the 
same  way.  Men  in  the  army  feel  that  the  religion 
which  is  going  to  do  anything  for  them  must  be 
more  than  a  theory,  a  sentiment,  or  a  pleasant  ex- 
perience. They  want  what  will  save  them  from 
camp  vices ;  what  will  make  God  a  conscious  per- 
sonal Friend  in  the  loneliness  of  their  nightly 
picketing,  or  when  tidings  reach  them  of  the  desola- 
tions death  is  making  in  their  distant  homes ;  what 
will  come  to  them  like  a  clear  '  well  -  done '  out  of 
heaven,  when  leading  a  charge  into  the  terrors  of 
shot  and  shell ;  what  will  enable  them  to  lean  on 


GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

God's  promise  of  immortal  life,  as  though  it  were 
the  bosom  of  wife  or  mother,  when  they  fall  unseen 
and  unhelped,  to  rise  no  more.  The  veteran 
soldiers  are  far  more  thoughtful,  calm,  kindly  and 
modest  than  the  later  recruits. 

"  I  can  not  now  speak  in  detail  of  the  work  of 
the  Christian  Commission,  but  I  can  not  help  bear- 
ing grateful  record  to  the  success  which  has  attend- 
ed its  work.  It  has  won  the  confidence,  sympathy, 
affection  and  good  wishes  of  the  best  part  of  the 
army, — including  both  officers  and  men,  —  to  an 
extent  and  degree  that  are  touching  to  witness ;  and 
it  can  point  to  results  already  reached,  through 
God's  blessing,  which  astonish  those  whose  faith 
was  largest.  Encouraging  incidents,  some  of  a 
most  touching  character,  are  constantly  occurring. 

"  Three  days  ago,  I  went  in  a  detailed  ambu- 
lance "to  visit  several  encampments,  and  called  at 
the  camp  of  a  battery  at  the  extreme  limit  of  our 
fortifications  toward  Suffolk.  The  Lieutenant  com- 
manding was  a  young  man,  not  quite  twenty  -  one. 
We  carried  papers  for  distribution,  and  asked  him  if 
it  would  be  both  convenient  and  pleasant  to  have  a 
brief  service.  His  quarters  were  in  a  large  room 
in  an  old  dwelling-house,  and  he  at  once  put  that  at 
our  service,  and  sent  his  sergeants  to  notify  the  men. 
I  preached  twenty-five  minutes  to  a  company  of  per- 
haps fifty.  When  the  room  was  cleared,  the  officer, 
turning  his  frank  face  toward  me,  said :  '  Sir,  I 
want  to  thank  you  myself  for  this  j  it  is  the  first  time 
I  have  heard  a  prayer,  even,  in  a  month.'  We  sat 


LETTERS.  115 

down  together,  and,  as  if  impelled  by  some  inward 
impulse,  he  gave  me  his  story,  now  and  then  with 
moistened  eyes,  and  a  voice  full  of  emotion.  The 
substance  of  it  was  this  :  *  My  father  is  a  minister 
in  northern  New  York.  My  parents  have  eight  chil- 
dren. '  And,  pausing  a  moment,  he  added,  half 
playfully,  half  seriously ;  *  I  am  the  worst  child  my 
parents  have  been  troubled  with.  I  have  been 
faithfully  counselled,  and  often  prayed  for,  but  I 
have  departed  from  the  way  so  kindly  and  plainly 
pointed  out.  I  came  into  the  army  almost  three 
years  ago,  only  seventeen  years  old.  I  expected  a 
long  piece  of  advice,  but  my  mother  waited  till  I 
had  reached  the  door,  and  then  only  said :  "My 
son,  keep  your  integrity,  and  be  true  to  the  prin- 
ciples we  have  taught  you."  Mother  writes  me  now 
once  in  a  while,  though  she  is  sixty-five  years  old.  ' 
He  took  from  his  drawer  a  sheet  folded  in  ancient 
style,  and  read  me  a  paragraph,  in  which  maternal 
pride,  love  and  anxiety  had  poured  themselves  out 
in  most  touching  Christian  counsel.  'That's  the 
way  mother  writes  me, '  said  he,  '  and  perhaps  you 
can  guess  what  kind  of  a  mother  I  Ve  got.  Some- 
how your  prayer  and  the  service  made  me  want  to 
tell  you  this.  I  said  I  was  the  worst  child  my 
mother  has  got,  and  I  think  I  am.  I  have  been 
fully  resolved  to  be  a  thoroughly  moral  young  man. 
I  never  tasted  a  drop  of  liquor,  nor  played  a  game 
of  cards,  in  my  life ;  but  it  is  terribly  hard  to  resist 
sometimes.  I  do  not  know  of  but  one  commissioned 
officer  among  all  whom  I  have  met,  who  I  suppose 


Il6  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

refuses  to  drink.  Among  my  equals  the  temptation 
is  n't  much  ;  but  when  a  superior  officer,  from  whom 
you  have  received  or  expect  favors,  asks  you  to 
drink,  in  a  tone  implying  that  he  does  n't  at  all  ex- 
pect a  refusal, — that 's  the  hard  place.  But  so  far  I 
have  kept  to  my  mother's  advice  on  that  point,  and 
maintained  my  integrity. '  '  Do  you  feel  at  all  that 
being  a  moral  man  fulfills  your  whole  duty?'  I 
asked.  '  Not  at  all, '  he  promptly  answered.  '  I 
know  I  should  have  been  a  Christian,  long  ago,' 
'  I  hope  to  be,  too,'  he  added,  after  a  moment,  with 
eyes  downcast,  and  tone  subdued.  I  said  a  few 
words  as  wisely  as  I  knew  how,  shook  hands  with 
him,  and  we  bade  each  other  good  -  bye.  '  Not  far 
from  the  kingdom,'  I  said  to  myself  as  I  rode  away. 
Will  he  step  in,  or  walk  in  the  opposite  direction? 
His  form,  face,  tone  and  manner  have  haunted  me 
almost  continually  since.  The  story  illustrates 
what  we  meet  here  in  the  army,  and  sets  forth  the 
power  which  Christian  counsel  at  home,  and  the 
letters  of  loving  Christian  friends  may  have.  Very 
many  of  the  most  striking  cases  of  conversion,  are 
readily  traceable  to  this  source. 

"  Allow  me  to  add,  in  closing,  that  I  have  asked 
myself  many  times,  while  witnessing  the  decided, 
practical  piety  developed  amid  all  the  disadvantages 
of  army  life  ;  and  the  fervid,  trustful  piety  which  has 
held  on  its  way  in  the  hearts  of  these  freed  people 
in  spite  of  burdens  and  wrongs, — I  have  asked 
myself  what  apology  we  can  urge  for  our  inefficient 
type  of  religion,  amid  all  the  helps  of  New  Eng- 


LETTERS.  117 

land  homes,  and  sanctuaries  hallowed  by  so  many 
tokens  of  God's  favor.  And  if  to  live  without  God 
be  an  inexcusable  sin  in  men  who  have  no  home 
but  the  camp,  and  men  who  have  no  lot  but  that  of 
bondage,  how  sad  must  be  their  lot  who  go  on  to 
the  last  great  trial  through  Christian  homes,  Sun- 
day schools,  and  churches  fragrant  with  prayer  and 
praise,  to  be  weighed  in  the  balance  and  found 
lacking  in  the  vital  thing?  " 

"  Sept.  13,  1865. 

"  DEAR  BRO.  ANTHONY  :  I  desire  to  express  my 
sympathy  with  you  in  this  hour  when  the  shadow 
of  another  bereavement  has  fallen  upon  your  home, 
and  another  star  been  stricken  from  the  firmament 
of  your  domestic  heaven.*  I  need  say  nothing  re- 
specting the  amiability  and  interest  attaching  to 
Abby's  spirit,  for  you  know  and  realize  that  as  no 
one  else  can ;  and  the  thought  of  that  adds,  doubt- 
less, to  the  seeming  greatness  of  your  loss.  Your 
faith  does  not  need  to  be  assured  that  she  who,  in 
our  earthly  way  of  speaking,  prematurely  dies,  does 
really  leap  the  sooner  into  the  only  blessed  life ;  for 
you  have  opened  your  heart  too  many  times  while 
sitting  beside  little,  silent,  cold  forms,  to  the  words 

*"Were  you  to  ask  in  what  particular  way  Mr.  Day  had  been 
of  most  service  to  me,  I  should  say  it  was  in  hours  of  trouble 
and  sorrow.  While  he  was  my  pastor  I  buried  five  children ; 
the  value  of  words  of  comfort  that  came  from  him  at  those 
times  never  can  be  expressed  by  me."* 


*L.  W.  Anthony  to  the  author. 


GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

of  Jesus:  '  Suffer  little  children' — ,  and  have  found 
too  much  solace  in  them,  to  distrust  them  now.  I 
am  sure  you  do  not  so  much  commit  your  dear  ones 
to  the  grave  as  yield  them  to  the  loving  care  of  God. 

"No  long  story  of  earthly  experience,  however 
sunny ;  no  picture  of  future  years  below,  however 
bright  the  coloring,  can  equal  that  single  line  in 
which  divine  wisdom  and  love  paint  for  us  the  life 
of  those  'little  ones'  who  hear  the  Shepherd's 
voice,  and  hasten  to  the  heavenly  fold :  '  Their  an- 
gels do  always  behold  the  face  of  my  Father  who 
is  in  Heaven.' 

"  All  this,  I  know  very  well,  can  not  prevent  your 
sense  of  bereavement  being  very  heavy,  nor  render 
your  utterance  of  the  words  :  '  Even  so,  Father,'  less 
than  painful.  You  will  repeat  them  with  choking 
voice,  and  with  lips  that  tremble  at  each  syllable. 
And  I  can  not  think  God  would  have  it  otherwise. 
He  has  not  planted  tender  affections  in  our  hearts 
and  then  bidden  us  be  stoics.  When  the  cords  of 
affection  snap  under  the  strain  of  bereavement,  he 
would  not  have  us  deny  that  we  are  wounded. 
When  the  choicest  treasures  which  he  has  lent  us 
are  suddenly  removed,  he  would  not  have  us  watch 
their  departure  with  careless  air  or  with  dry  eyes. 

"The  strength  of  Christian  faith  and  the  complete- 
ness of  Christian  submission  are  not  seen  in  our  tak- 
ing affliction,  such  as  yours,  with  indifference ;  but 
while  the  agony  is  keen  and  the  eye  blind  with 
tears,  to  be  able  to  say :  «  The  Lord  gave,  and  the 
Lord  hath  taken  away,  blessed  be  the  name  of  the 


LETTERS.  lip 

Lord,' —  that  tests  our  confidence  and  tells  whether 
*  the  Lord  is  our  refuge,  a  very  present  help  in 
trouble.'  The  submission  that  costs,  is  specially 
dear  to  him  who  makes  bearing  the  cross  the  proof 
of  discipleship  and  the  condition  of  his  favor. 

"  You  were  sure  to  lose  your  little  child,  Abby, 
even  if  she  had  not  left  you  in  this  form.  Her  art- 
lessness,  her  wondering  questions,  merry  prattle, 
winsome,  childish  ways  and  words,  the  freshness 
of  her  thoughts  and  feelings  which  made  Spring 
abide  through  the  whole  year  in  your  house, — 
these  things  which  made  her  your  little  child,  you 
could  not  have  kept  save  in  memory,  and  there  you 
are  sure  to  keep  them  now.  ...  If  the  heart  had 
kept  up  its  beating,  do  you  think  that  there  could 
have  been  any  transition  to  another  state  on  earth, 
that  could  satisfy  your  human  love  and  your  Chris- 
tian ambition  for  her,  like  this  which  makes  the 
beauty  and  the  brightness  of  her  earthly  childhood 
ripen  into  the  eternal  youth  and  glory  of  the  heav- 
enly life? 

.  .  .  *«  God  is  your  'loving  Father'  now,  not  less, 
but  even  more  than  when  the  seats  at  your  right 
and  left  hands  at  the  table  were  filled  by  the  dear 
ones  whose  presence  so  lighted  your  home,  though 
he  seems  the  *  terrible  avenger.'  Nearer  than  at  any 
other  time  does  he  come  to  us  when  the  streams  of 
human  comfort  ran  low ;  his  ministries  are  richest 
when  other  help  is  unavailing.  You  have  not  un- 
frequently,  I  am  sure,  felt  to  be  deeply  and  glori- 
ously true,  the  lines  of  Cowper  : 


I2O  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

'  Behind  a  frowning  Providence 
He  hides  a  smiling  face.' 

I  think  the  last  line  would  better  express  the 
truth  if  it  read : 

'  He  keeps  a  smiling  face.' 

"  Have  you  never  thought  how  special  are  the 
pains  God  has  taken  to  speak  his  best  words  to  the 
smitten,  and  what  an  unequivocal  bearing  that  most 
blessed  of  Christ's  utterances  has  :  '  Come  unto  me, 
all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will 
give  you  rest '  ? 

"  God's  love  may  also  be  discerned  in  giving  an 
assurance  that  the  dear  departed  ones  find  the  real 
home  for  which  all  healthy  human  souls  have  at 
times  an  unutterable  longing ;  and  also  in  making 
them  go  before  us  to  invest  the  heavenly  world  with 
real  home  aspects,  so  that  we  go  to  it  not  as  stran- 
gers, but  to  find  a  familiar  circle  and  mode  of  life. 
You  could  not  have  made  your  earthly  home  so  at- 
tractive but  that  the  members  of  your  household 
would  have  felt  the  complete  idea  of  a  home  unreal- 
ized on  earth.  They  would  have  felt  at  times  strong 
yearnings  for  the  eternal  house  not  made  with 
hands  ;  or  if  not,  the  absence  of  such  a  look  upward 
would  have  been  to  you  a  deeper  grief. 

"They  are  going,— early,  indeed,  but  over  a 
road  less  thorny  because  they  go  early;  they  are 
far  less  likely  to  miss  the  way  than  if  the  path  ran 
through  the  wilderness  and  among  the  temptations 
of  a  long  road ;  they  are  going  to  take  their  places 


LETTERS.  121 

around  the  board  where  you  may  find  the  seats  at 
your  side  never  vacant,  and  the  occupants  never 
unsatisfied  with  the  glorious  life.  Is  he  not  '  a  lov- 
ing Father  *  who  comes  to  light  up  bereavements, 
which  are  inevitable,  with  such  beams  of  promise, 
and  such  stars  of  hope  ?  .  .  .  I  thank  God  that  your 
affection  has  brightened  the  dewy  path  over  which 
your  five  children  have  passed  from  the  morning  of 
earth  to  the  land  upon  whose  celestial  glory  no 
night  comes  down." 

"  LONDON,  ENG.,  Dec.  12,  1865. 
"  DEAR  BRO.  ANTHONY  :  I  wish  you  could  look 
in  upon  us  to  -  night.  Three  of  us  sit  around  a  table 
in  a  finely  furnished  private  parlor,  in  the  Stevens 
Hotel,  just  off  from  Bond  St.,  about  half  way  be- 
tween Oxford  St.  and  Piccadilly.  Before  the  grate, 
where  a  pleasant  fire  is  glowing,  are  plush  easy- 
chairs,  and  the  polished  fender  waits  for  your  slip- 
pered feet,  where  you  may  toast  them  first  into 
warmth,  next  into  luxury,  and  last  into  dreams  of 
home ;  so  that  you  will  seem  to  see  the  distant 
faces  both  of  the  dead  and  the  living  shining  out 
through  the  ruddy  flame,  and  hear  the  voices  that 
once  made  music  about  other  hearths  coming  back  in 
the  street  cries  that  ring  in  the  distance  on  the  night 
air.  At  the  back  side  of  the  apartment  is  a  vacant 
lounge  where  you  can  relax  all  the  muscles  at  once, 
and  find  a  deepened  meaning  crowding  itself  into 
the  precious  word  —  rest.  On  the  dressing  -  table 
is  a  little  Bible,  bought  in  Providence  three  weeks 
ago,  and  the  Psalm  we  would  read  by  candle-light 


122  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

would  be  not  less  comforting  because  it  had  been 
carried  over  the  sea;  the  subdued  petition  with 
which  we  should  put  our  souls  into  the  Great  Keep- 
er's care,  would  go  up  by  as  short  and  sure  a  road 
to  Heaven  from  the  new  closet  as  from  the  old. 
And  I  have  just  ordered  breakfast  at  8  1-2  in  the 
morning,  here  in  this  room ;  —  the  bill  of  fare  to 
consist  of  fried  fish,  baked  potatoes,  omelet,  dipped 
toast,  baked  apples  and  tea.  I  will  secure  you  the 
seat  just  before  the  grate,  give  you  the  second  cut 
from  the  tail  of  the  flounder,  and  put  two  lumps  of 
sugar  into  your  cup.  Will  you  come?  If  you  hes- 
itate now,  I  shall  give  it  up,  for  I  have  exhausted 
the  argument  and  plied  you  with  all  the  motives ! 

"  But  I  only  write  you  a  word,  to  tell  you,  thus 
playfully,  that  my  heart  goes  across  the  ocean  at  a 
bound,  and  that  to  see  you  to-night  would  be  a  rare 
pleasure.  Such  a  pleasure  is,  I  hope,  yet  in  store 
for  us.  Am  resting  and  rallying  —  go  to  Paris  in  a 
day  or  two." 

"CAIRO,  EGYPT,  Feb.  17,  1866. 

"DEAR  BRO.  ANTHONY:  I  got  your  letter  at 
Alexandria.  Wandering  so  far  from  home,  seeing 
scarcely  any  faces  but  strange  ones,  and  hearing 
the  music  of  my  mother  tongue  but  rarely,  I  am  in 
a  condition  to  prize  anything  which  helps  to  picture 
the  life  and  bring  to  the  ear  of  my  fancy  the  tones 
which  have  so  often  and  so  largely  blessed  me  on 
another  continent.  I  am  very  glad  to  learn  of  the 
general  steadfastness,  interest  and  prosperity  in  our 
church  circle  at  home.  It  would  be  a  rare  privi- 


LETTERS.  123 

lege  to  step  in  and  share  even  the  simplest,  the 
briefest  and  the  most  ordinary  of  your  services." 

"  LONDON,  June  29,  1866. 

"  DEAR  BRO.  ANTHONY:  I  need  not  tell  you 
how  grateful  it  has  been  to  me  to  learn  of  the  relig- 
ious prosperity  which  has  been  shared  by  the  Roger 
Williams  congregation,  Sunday  school  and  church 
in  connection  with  Bro.  Perkins's*  labors,  and  the 
labors  of  God's  people.  There  is  no  joy  like  that 
which  springs  from  the  triumph  of  the  Gospel  in  the 
field  to  which  the  strongest  sympathies  of  the  heart 
are  daily  turning.  I  trust  that  the  religious  life  is 
to  deepen,  strengthen,  rise  and  grow,  year  by  year. 
And  I  trust,  too,  that  besides  the  fidelity  which  has 
aided  to  win  so  many  young  disciples  to  Jesus,  there 
is  being  and  will  still  be  employed  the  gracious  wis- 
dom and  divinely -taught  skill,  which  organizes 
and  trains  these  new  forces  for  a  high,  steady,  con- 
sistent, effective  service  in  the  great  Master's  vine- 
yard. I  hope  to  find  when  I  get  back  that  the  yoke 
of  the  Master  is  not  only  assumed  but  worn, — that 
behind  every  good  profession  a  genuine  life  is 
throbbing, —  that  each  name  stands  for  a  real  and 
felt  force,  to  which  every  day  and  deed  makes  an 
addition. 

"I  regret  very  much  the  necessity  of  being  ab- 
sent from  Covenant  Meeting.  May  the  blessing  of 
God  be  with  you  in  your  gathering,  and  your  hearts 
burn  within  you,  while  you  talk  of  Christ  and  his 

*  liev.  C.  S.  Perkins,  who  performed  pulpit  and  pastoral  service  with  the 
church  during  Mr.  Day's  absence. 


124 


GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 


grace,  as  it  has  been  given  to  your  hearts.  Good 
things  and  great  are  in  store  for  you ;  open  the  heart 
freely  and  let  them  flow  in..  For  myself,  I  feel  anx- 
ious to  be  a  truer  Christian  and  a  wiser  and  more 
faithful  minister.  I  am  sometimes  oppressed  with  a 
sense  of  my  own  weakness  and  inefficiency ;  but 
Christ  is  my  source  of  hope,  and  his  promises  my 
never  failing  fountain  of  joy.  I  have  pledged  him 
my  heart  and  life,  and  I  am  only  anxious  to  redeem 
the  pledge.  My  church  relations  seem  full  of  sa- 
credness,  and  there  is  no  word  of  our  Covenant 
but  I  would  renewedly  accept. 

"  I  am  longing  for  two  things  :  A  church  where 
every  member  is  a  loving,  willing,  faithful  worker ; 
and  the  coming  of  many  souls  to  Christ  and  to  us. 
My  heart  is  deeply  drawn  out  for  this  last  blessing, 
and  I  trust  many  of  you  are  praying  and  laboring 
for  it.  I  can  not  feel  satisfied  without  seeing  some 
fruit  spring  up  under  our  labors." 

"  DAMASCUS,  SYRIA,  April  17,  1866. 

"  I  am  here  at  the  easternmost  point  of  my 
tour.  I  do  not  always  realize  that  I  am  sev- 
eral thousands  of  miles  from  R.  I.  I  have  now 
been  so  long  among  these  orientals,  and  their  phases 
of  life  come  so  much  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  the 
sense  of  strangeness  has  largely  worn  off,  and  this 
part  of  the  world  appears  human  and  not  wholly 
unhomelike.  Yet  I  shall  leave  it  without  great  re- 
luctance, and  the  idea  of  getting  back  to  civiliza- 
tion is  agreeable. 

"  Without  exaggeration  I  may  say  that  I  have 


LETTERS.  125 

enjoyed  this  tour.  I  had  longed  to  see  these  old 
lands  from  my  boyhood ;  and  so  to  see  them  has 
been  a  prized  privilege.  Perhaps,  too,  I  do  not 
count  the  blessing  smaller  that  I  have  taken  this 
survey  in  the  comparative  maturity  of  thought  and 
life,  when  reflection  is  calm  and  active,  though  fan- 
cy is  less  busy  and  buoyant ;  when,  if  I  have  felt 
less  intensely,  I  may  have  thought  more  practically. 
Besides,  I  am  not  much  haunted  by  the  idea  or 
feeling  that  I  ought  to  be  at  work  in  the  world,  in- 
stead of  inspecting  it  for  my  own  gratification ; — 
seeing  that  I  am  here  because  such  recreation  ap- 
peared to  be  the  only  road  to  useful  service  in  the 
future.  And,  though  I  can  never  be  quite  satisfied 
to  tax  the  generosity  even,  which  takes  pleasure  in 
giving,  there  has  often  seemed  to  be  a  kind  of 
affectional  sanctity  thrown  over  this  whole  tour,  by 
the  remembrance  of  what  was  done  at  Lewiston  and 
elsewhere,  in  the  way  of  lifting  me  from  my  attitude 
of  waiting  and  doubt,  and  setting  me  at  once 
among  the  scenes  that  are  so  memorable  and  hal- 
lowed." 

"  INVERNESS,  SCOTLAND,  July  31,  1866. 
"DEAR  BRO.  ANTHONY:  You  probably  want 
some  specific  statement  about  health.  I  can  not  tell 
the  whole  story  in  a  brief  letter,  and  need  not.  But 
I  have  worked  as  hard,  steadily  and  conscientiously 
for  physical  vigor  as  I  have  been  wont  to  work  for 
spiritual  results.  I  have  resolutely  put  down  the 
doubt  which  would  keep  coming  up,  whether  my 
physical  life  was  really  worth  fighting  such  a 


126  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

long,  earnest,  expensive,  sometimes  painful,  some- 
times weary  and  doubtful  battle.  For  I  had  gone 
into  the  fight  for  life,  and  there  is  something  in  me 
which  hates  to  give  up  when  I  have  once  fairly  en- 
tered the  lists.  In  that  spirit  I  have  been  planning 
and  doing  since  I  came  abroad, —  in  a  general  way 
subordinating  many  other  things  to  this. 

"  My  life  must  henceforth  be  more  even,  if  it  is  to 
be  capable  of  anything ;  I  must  husband  my 
strength,  take  counsel  of  prudence,  and  heed  the 
remonstrances  of  my  fretting  nerves.  My  frailties 
are  absolutely  stronger  than  my  determination  ;  and 
the  careful  study  of  myself  and  symptoms  during 
these  past  months  compels  the  conviction, —  wheth- 
er I  would  or  not, —  that  to  be  tough  and  enduring 
is  henceforth  impossible." 


IV. 
EDITORIAL  LIFE. 


1866  —  1875. 

His  election  to  the  editorship  of  the  Morning 
Star,  Dec.  6,  1866,  was  followed  at  once  by  his  ac- 
ceptance, but  not  without  expressed  apprehension 
as  to  its  wisdom,  and  reluctance  from  considerations 
of  health.  On  the  latter  account,  he  did  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  his  long  continuance  of  service  was  quite 
doubtful. 

His  editorial  salutatory  appeared  in  the  issue  of 
Dec.  i  pth,  in  which  he  says  : 

"  Calmly,  prayerfully,  trustfully  as  I  can,  I  ac- 
cept the  position.  I  need  co-operation,  and  expect 
it;  I  desire  a  true  success,  and  do  not  despair  of  it. 
Is  that  presumption?  , 

"  I  have  no  new  plans  to  propose  to  -  day,  and  no 
large  pledges  for  the  future  to  give.  The  Star  has 
acquired  a  character  and  a  moral  position.  They 


128  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

are  definite,  and  have  cost  not  a  little.  I  trust 
neither  will  be  sacrificed  or  impaired.  Some  of  the 
noblest  of  our  dead  and  the  best  of  our  living  have 
put  their  richest  qualities  and  their  most  heroic  pur- 
poses into  its  life;  —  it  would  be  a  grief  and  a 
shame  to  barter  away  lightly  what  we  have  gained 
•at  such  a  cost.  If  they  be  new  voices  that  speak 
through  its  columns  hereafter,  I  trust  it  will  not  be 
difficult  to  detect  the  clear  ring  of  other  days. 

"  The  Star  will,  therefore,  continue  to  speak  for 
and  in  the  name  of  the  denomination,  whose  organ 
it  has  been  from  the  first,  while  allowing,  as  hereto- 
fore, a  reasonable  latitude  for  the  expression  of  indi- 
vidual opinion  ;  and  so  seek  to  promote  at  once  uni- 
ty and  liberty.  It  will  plead  for  temperance  and 
freedom;  it  will  take  the  liberty  of  criticising  public 
measures,  especially  in  view  of  their  moral  bearings  ; 
and  it  will  lift  up  its  voice  -for  the  regeneration  of 
the  state  as  well  as  for  the  consecration  of  the 
church.  While  especially  aiming  at  the  supremacy 
of  a  sound  and  vital  religious  faith  in  the  spiritual 
sphere,  it  will  not  stand  quietly  by  and  see  that  faith 
contemned  and  crucified  in  the  secular.  The  relig- 
ion which  it  advocates  will  still  include  both  the  first 
and  second  commandments.  i 

"It  is  a  time  when  Christ's  disciples  are  called  to 
be  Christian  citizens,  and  to  define  that  duty  will 
constitute  a  part  of  the  service  which  is  to  be  under- 
taken here.  The  Star  will  not  cease  to  assert  the 
rightful  supremacy  of  true  religion  always  and  ev- 
erywhere. It  is  quite  time  that  the  heresy  which 


RECEPTION  AT  DOVER.  I2p 

divorces  politics  from  Christianity  were  buried  out 
of  sight.  The  Gospel  has  many  more  precepts  for 
week  -  day  life  than  for  Sunday  worship. 

*'  Brethren,  Friends,  Readers,  I  salute  you  all. 
Sorrowing  with  you  over  the  great  bereavement 
which  has  fallen  upon  us,  sharing  your  gratitude 
over  the  great  blessing  which  God  has  vouchsafed 
us  in  the  long  and  consecrated  service  of  him  who 
built  his  life  into  the  F.  Baptist  denomination  and 
left  it  as  his  vital  monument,  anxious  to  join  you  in 
carrying  forward  to  completeness  the  enterprises 
which  owed  so  much  to  his  clear  head  and  good 
heart,  I  take  his  vacant  chair  with  human  trem- 
bling, but  enter  upon  these  duties  with  Christian 
hope.  I  beg  your  most  fervent  prayers.  I  pledge 
my  best  service." 

His  name  had  long  been  familiar  in  Dover,  and 
his  abilities  held  in  high  esteem.  His  coming  was 
greeted  with  lively  expressions  of  satisfaction.  His 
subsequent  participation  in  municipal  affairs  was 
much  less  than  was  desired  by  his  fellow  citi- 
zens. He  served  upon  the  School  Board  for  several 
years ;  and  for  one  term  represented  Dover  in  the 
legislature,  where  he  was  chairman  of  the  commit- 
tee on  the  State  Normal  School.  At  one  time  during 
the  session  the  school  would  have  failed  to  receive 
an  important  and  needed  appropriation  but  for  a 
speech  which  he  delivered  in  its  behalf.  He  was 
President  of  its  board  of  trustees  for  some  time  pre- 


130  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

vious  to  his  removal  from  the  State.  He  declined 
a  second  nomination  as  representative.  The  honor, 
never  before  conferred  upon  a  citizen,  of  an  invita- 
tion to  lecture  in  the  regular  city  course,  was  ac- 
corded him.  He  twice  appeared  as  a  lecturer,  and 
with  an  acceptability  second  to  none  other. 

He  was  warmly  welcomed  at  the  office  of  the 
Morning  Star.  To  his  kindly,  courteous  bearing 
was  yielded  not  only  the  favor,  but  the  veneration 
even,  of  those  employed  in  connection  with  the  pa- 
per. Thenceforth  to  the  end,  he  imparted  needful 
instruction  with  patience ;  suggestions  were  made 
with  kindliness  ;  words  of  encouragement  and  help- 
fulness, and  genial  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  made 
his  presence  full  of  endearing,  elevating  influences. 

His  work  in  the  writing  of  editorials  and  book 
notices,  was  performed  with  great  celerity  and  ac- 
curacy—  never  being  rewritten,  nor  bearing  marks 
of  correction,  except  an  occasional  changing  of 
a  word.  His  quick,  exact  eye  enabled  him  to  cor- 
rect a  proof  with  surprising  rapidity.  He  was  able 
to  seize  without  difficulty  upon  that  which  was  re- 
tainable  in  a  manuscript,  and  to  decide  readily  upon 
its  merits.* 

His  book  notices  in  the  Star  were,  perhaps,  as 
extensively  used  by  publishers  in  their  circulars  and 

*Bev.  J.  M.  Brewster. 


EDITORIAL  LIFE. 

advertisements  as  those  of  any  other  religious  jour- 
nal. Unusually  just  and  discriminating  in  this  fa- 
vorite part  of  his  work,  careful  to  commend  excel- 
lences as  well  as  to  note  defects,  he  was  known  as 
an  able  and  appreciative  critic.  His  thorough  ap- 
preciation by  publishers  is  strongly  testified  by  nu- 
merous letters  addressed  to  him  personally,  by  the 
quality  and  variety  of  books  sent  him,  and  the  fre- 
quent quotations  made  from  his  reviews.  "I  re- 
garded him  as  singularly  fitted  to  sit  in  judgment 
upon  the  productions  of  young  aspirants  in  the  field 
of  literature.  He  was  sensitive  and  genial,  yet 
scholarly  and  critical  in  all  his  tastes  and  acquisi- 
tions. He  had  a  disposition  to  see  all  the  good 
qualities  of  an  author,  and  yet  his  high  standard 
of  excellence  be  held  to  with  tenacity."  * 

In  1867,  Mr.  Daniel  Lothrop,  then  of  Dover,  pro- 
posed to  publish  Sunday  school  books  in  connec- 
tion with  the  F.  B.  Printing  Establishment.  The 
Corporators  received  the  proposition  with  favor  and 
referred  it  to  a  committee  of  which  Mr.  Day  was 
chairman.  Forty  -  four  books  were  published  under 
this  arrangement,  bringing  upon  him  a  very  large 
amount  of  literary  labor.  He  examined  and  revised 
all  the  manuscript  of  these  volumes  and  read  the 
proof.  He  also  revised  other  manuscripts  for  the 

*J.  E.  Ilunkin,  D.  D. 


132  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

press  of  Messrs.  Lothrop  &  Co.,  whose  books 
bear  the  finishing  touch  of  his  literary  criticism,  and 
exhibit  the  results  of  his  appreciative  taste. 

With  Drs.  Lincoln  of  Newton,  and  Rankin  of 
Washington,  he  examined  manuscripts  and  decided 
the  awards  in  connection  with  both  the  $500  and 
the  $1000  prize  series. 

Meeting  in  this  matter  of  business  as  comparative 
strangers,  the  acquaintance  ripened  into  mutual  es- 
teem and  friendship.  Both  these  members  of  the 
committee  speak  with  admiration  of  Dr.  Day's  ge- 
nial, companionable  qualities  and  literary  ability. 
The  close  of  their  joint  labors  was  followed  by  a 
dinner,  at  which  much  good  humor  prevailed.  ' 

"  He  was  patient  and  minute  in -his  examination 
and  statement  of  the  qualifies  of  manuscripts  offered 
for  publication.  His  preferences  were  generally 
for  those  which  had  delicate  thought  exquisitely  ex- 
pressed, rather  than  for  those  which,  though  hav- 
ing more  feeling  and  action,  were  destitute  of  the 
sensitiveness  and  the  finish  which  he  exacted.  He 
seemed  to  enter  into  the  sympathies  and  intent 
of  an  author  more  fully  than  any  other  critic  I  have 
known.  '** 

Having  been,  since  1850,  a  special  contributor  of 
the  Star,  and,  since  1863,  one  of  the  Corporators, 

*Mr.  D.  Lothrop. 


EDITORIAL  LIFE.  133 

and  actively  and  prominently  connected  with  its  lit- 
erary management,  he  was  prepared  to  enter 
efficiently  at  once  upon  its  more  intimate  direction. 
Under  his  impulse  and  care,  it  soon  exhibited  a 
higher  intellectual  character,  superior  taste,  and 
more  of  general  accuracy  and  ability. 

His  editorials  took  a  wide,  comprehensive,  intelli- 
gent range  ;  grappling  with  sturdy  questions  of  na- 
tional politics  and  public  morals ;  defending  some 
needful  reform,  or  asking  that  reform  be  inaugu- 
rated ;  extolling  some  public  charity  or  private  mu- 
nificence ;  pleading  for  a  high  and  true  secular  and 
Christian  education ;  aiming  to  extend  brotherly 
kindness  and  charity  ;  stimulating  and  encouraging 
the  ministry  and  churches  :  speaking  words  of  ten- 
derness fitted  for  a  child's  heart,  or  breathing  expe- 
riences full  of  comfort  to  the  aged  saint ;  —  always 
Christian,  always  patriotic  and  firm  in  utterance, 
nurturing  faith,  heroism  and  patience.  It  was  ap- 
parent that  his  political  preferences  were  Republi- 
can,—  it  was  equally  apparent  that  he  was  not  a 
partisan.  He  grasped  intelligently  and  fairly  in  his 
discussions,  the  position  and  spirit  of  the  various  re- 
ligious bodies,  and  presented  with  clearness  the 
meaning  and  character  of  religious  movements. 

Testimonials  to  the  worth  and  acceptability  of  the 
Star,  from  sources  beyond  its  usual  constituency, 


134  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

multiplied  on  every  hand,  and  were  continued  year 
by  year  during  his  editorship.  The  business  mana- 
ger of  a  large  religious  publication  house  said  :  "  I 
read  Dr.  Day's  editorials  with  more  pleasure  than 
those  of  any  other  religious  paper."  From  the 
Congregationalist,  the  Watchman  and  Reflector, 
the  Advance,  the  Independent  *  and  other  religious 
weeklies,  and  also  from  the  higher  class  of  secular 
journals  came  high  and  appreciative  words  of  en- 
comium, commending  the  literary  management  of 
the  Star  as  that  of  a  first  class  paper,  distinguished 
by  its  catholicity  and  fairness,  the  ability  and  ac- 
complishments of  its  editor.  A  subscriber  writes  : 
"Though  a  Baptist  minister  for  over  thirty  years, 
of  the  true,  old  apostolic,  line,  yet  I  like  the  spirit 
of  your  paper.  I  like  it  because  you  stand  up  fair- 
ly, frankly,  honestly ;  expressing  your  own  views 
without  double  dealing,  or  an  effort  to  hover  every 
saint  called  a  Baptist." 

He  gave  to  the  Star  from  the  outset  the  deepest 
devotion,  and  it  was  always  the  object  of  his  intense 
love.  He  was  greatly  pained  by  any  seeming  lack 
of  interest  or  appreciation  by  its  patrons.  As  he  in- 
sisted upon  courtesy,  fairness,  good -will  in  himself, 
he  expected  the  exhibition  of  like  qualities  in  others. 
He  was  ambitious  that  the  Star  should  be  the  expo- 
nent of  Christian  love  and  helpfulness.  One  day 


EDITORIAL  LIFE.  135 

when  he  was  ill  in  the  office,  and  was  talking  of  the 
needs  and  interests  of  the  Establishment,  he  was 
asked :  "  What  shall  we  put  into  the  Star  to  make 
it  the  best  possible?"  In  reply,  he  said:  "Put  all 
the  sweetness,  bravery,  helpfulness  and  sacrifice  of 
the  dear  Redeemer  into  every  issue  of  it.  Nothing 
else  is  worth  the  pain  it  costs  or  the  interests  in- 
volved." He  endeavored  to  make  it  subserve  the 
fullest  interests  of  the  denomination,  and  fairly  rep- 
resent its  spirit  and  aims. 

In  his  editorial  of  Dec.  31,  1873,  he  exhibits  the 
kind  of  ministry  which  he  would  have  the  Star  per- 
form : 

"  With  this  number,  the  forty  -  eighth  volume  of 
the  Star  reaches  its  close.  We  hope  its  visits  to 
many  homes  have  not  been  without  satisfactions 
and  benefits.  We  trust  it  has  carried  some  light  to 
perplexed  readers,  help  to  those  who  were  in  need 
of  spiritual  quickening,  courage,  comfort  and  joy  to 
the  hearts  that  were  pressed  by  the  burdens  and 
discouragements  that  life  is  almost  sure  to  bring. 
If  it  has  helped  perplexed  minds  into  clearer  views 
of  truth  and  duty,  strengthened  and  lifted  moral 
and  Christian  purpose,  cheered  fainting  hearts  so 
that  they  have  been  readier  to  take  up  their  appoint- 
ed work  and  carry  it  on  patiently  and  trustfully, 
borne  healing  influences  to  smitten  and  wounded 
souls,  taught  bravery  and  trustfulness  to  the  fearful 
and  anxious,  aided  bereaved  ones  to  put  fresh 


136  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

meaning  into  the  sentence, —  'Thy  will  be  done,' 
brought  light  through  the  shadows  that  hang  over 
the  grave,  and  made  the  better  land  and  life  seem 
nearer,  more  real  and  more  precious  to  the  soul, — 
if  it  has  done  these  things,  and  such  as  these,  it  has 
served  the  ends  that  stand  in  our  thought,  and  satis- 
fy our  ambition  above  all  others.  For  these  results 
we  chiefly  labor  and  pray,  and  the  evidence  that 
they  are  reached  in  any  good  measure  brings  back 
an  encouragement  and  a  gladness  such  as  nothing 
else  yields. 

"  We  are  painfully  conscious  that  our  own  service 
has  been  too  much  lacking  in  the  wisdom  and  devo- 
tion that  are  always  so  needful ;  but  there  has  been 
a  measure  of  satisfaction  in  honestly  trying  to  serve 
the  great  cause  which  is  so  dear  to  the  heart  of  God 
and  so  vitally  related  to  the  welfare  of  men.  We 
end  the  year's  work  with  a  humble  and  glad  trust, 
and  ask  the  great  Helper's  aid,  for  ourselves  and 
our  readers,  that  the  future  may  be  nobler  and  bet- 
ter than  the  past." 

Again,  with  its  first  issue  from  Boston,  Jan.  6, 
1875  :  "  We  wish  it  to  serve  the  great  end  of  en- 
larging the  plans,  cementing  the  hearts  and  uniting 
the  efforts  of  those  who  are  laboring  together  with 
God  for  the  highest  welfare  of  men." 

He  adopted  the  rule  of  spending  eight  hours 
daily,  in  the  office.  How  he  actually  wrought 
meanwhile,  and  his  habits  there,  are  best  revealed 


EDITORIAL  LIFE.  137 

by  one  who  was  intimately  associated  with  him  in 
editorial  management  for  five  years  : 

"What  impresses  me  most,  and  that  which  comes 
to  my  mind  first  in  thinking  of  him,  was  his  singu- 
lar persistence  in  work.  He  kept  himself  in  the 
office  quite  as  many  hours  as  almost  any  one  else  in  it. 
Eight  o'clock  in  summer  and  nine  in  winter  usually 
found  him  at  his  desk,  and  excepting  the  scant  hour 
that  he  generally  allowed  himself  for  dinner,  there 
he  sat  until  about  half-  past  six  in  the  evening. 

"  He  never  stood,  except  now  and  then  to  walk 
across  the  room  once  or  twice  in  a  pre-occupied 
way,  as  if  still  carrying  on  the  work  in  which  he 
had  been  engaged  at  the  desk,  and  there  he  would 
soon  be  found  again  wholly  absorbed  in  work,  as 
though  there  were  no  time  for  respite.  This  was 
especially  noticeable  when  he  was  ill.  At  those 
times  when  we  knew  him  to  be  suffering  severely, 
he  rigidly  adhered  to  his  usual  habits  of  work.  He 
seemingly  never  ceased  working  for  a  moment  out 
of  any  disposition  to  yield  to  pain  or  any  fear  of  the 
probable  consequences  of  overwork.  It  was  only 
when  pain  and  illness  actually  conquered  him,  that 
he  seemed  at  all  to  yield." 

For  some  time  previous  to  his  election  as  editor  of 
the  Morning  Star,  the  establishing  of  another  de- 
nominational paper,  to  be  issued  from  some  favor- 
able locality  in  the  West,  had  been  seriously  pro- 
posed. Western  brethren  of  influence  urged  his 
acceptance  of  the  position  with  the  declaration  that 


GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

it  would  be  hailed  with  greater  satisfaction  at  the 
West  than  that  of  any  other  who  could  be  appointed. 
He  was,  moreover,  assured  by  them  that  in  the  event 
of  his  acceptance,  the  West  would  probably  unite 
with  the  East  in  making  one  strong  paper.  Such  a 
consummation  was  earnestly  hoped  for  by  many, 
and  the  prospect  of  it  had  no  little  effect  upon  his 
decision.  But  before  he  had  fairly  entered  the  new 
sphere  it  was  ascertained  that  western  Free  Bap- 
tists, generally,  could  not  be  satisfied  except  by  the 
establishment  of  a  paper  under  their  control  and 
within  their  jurisdiction ;  and  that  decisive  prelimi- 
nary steps  had  already  been  taken. 

He  was  greatly  disappointed  by  the  final  result, 
but,  endeavoring  to  yield  his  own  convictions  to  the 
opinions  of  others  in  whose  judgment  he  reposed 
great  confidence,  he  worked  on  hopefully.  Al- 
though he  never  for  a  moment  believed  that  two 
papers  would  be  as  well  for  the  denomination  as 
one  paper  well  sustained,  with  a  strong  western  as 
well  as  eastern  representation  in  its  corporate  and 
editorial  management,  yet,  when  it  was  obvious 
that  his  wishes  could  not  be  realized,  he  disinterest- 
edly and  heartily  strove  to  make  the  two  papers  as 
strong  and  valuable  as  possible. 

The  Conference  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  in  1868,  de- 
cided to  appropriate  a  considerable  portion  of  the 


GENERAL   CONFERENCE    AT   BUFFALO.          139 

funds  of  the  Printing  Establishment  to  encourage 
the  continuance  of  the  denominational  paper  already 
published  in  Chicago,  and  also  to  aid  in  the  start- 
ing of  a  third  paper  in  New  York. 

When  the  Committee  on  Publications,  of  which 
Dr.  Day  was  a  member,  by  its  majority  recom- 
mended the  above  action,  he  prepared  a  minority 
report,  but  after  brief  thought  concluded  to  withhold 
it.  He  was  opposed  to  the  action  of  Conference  on 
the  ground  that  the  local  and  general  objects 
which  were  proposed  to  be  gained,  could  be  better 
secured  "by  an  earnest  effort  of  all  parties  to  add 
patronage  and  power  to  the  papers  already  estab- 
lished, than  by  calling  another  into  existence."  In 
the  minority  report,  found  among  his  papers,  he 
says  further : 

"  The  patronage  which  on  the  most  hopeful  view 
may  be  looked  for,  is  not  adequate  to  sustain  three 
papers  respectably.  One  or  more  of  them  will  be 
in  serious  danger  of  sinking  into  a  weakness  that 
holds  on  to  life  only  by  a  desperate  struggle  to  keep 
out  of  the  grave. 

"  We  have  not  the  needed  supply  of  men  and 
mind  that  can  be  spared  from  other  spheres  to  make 
three  papers  either  a  credit  to  the  ability  of  the  de- 
nomination, a  stimulant  and  an  educator  to  the 
young  who  are  growing  up  among  us,  or  a  real 
power  in  society.  A  weak  periodical  literature,  at 


140 


GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 


such  a  time  as  this,  is  what  we  can  not  afford  to 
send  abroad  to  represent  us.  Quality  is  more  vital 
than  quantity. 

"  Thfe  establishment  of  this  number  of  papers, 
through  such  appropriations,  will  almost  certainly 
cut  off  the  resources  of  the  Printing  Establishment 
so  that  it  can  no  longer  appropriate  funds  to  the 
great  benevolent  and  religious  undertakings  of  the 
denomination  ;  it  is  liable  to  leave  us  without  the 
means  to  defray  the  expense  of  our  general  denomi- 
national work,  or  to  aid  in  the  execution  of  impor- 
tant plans  in  the  future. 

"  This  scattering  of  the  funds,  for  the  purpose  of 
exalting  and  putting  vigor  into  so  many  measures 
and  projects  that  are  local  and  sectional  rather  than 
general  and  denominational,  will,  in  our  judgment, 
tend  to  weakness  and  disintegration  rather  than  to 
that  unity  and  working  Christian  strength  with- 
out which  our  record  is  likely  to  be  one  of  partial 
success,  of  blighted  hopes,  of  unfulfilled  promises 
and  mortifying  failures." 

He  was  never  after  satisfied  with  his  passive  posi- 
tion and  inaction  over  this  question,  and  endeavored 
as  far  as  possible  to  obviate  their  effect. 

An  arrangement  made  by  the  Printing  Establish- 
ment in  1870,  to  maintain  an  office  of  the  Star  in 
New  York,  did  not  fully  meet  his  approval,  yet,  on 
most  accounts  he  believed  it  wisest,  and  honorably 
and  faithfully  complied  with  the  conditions  involved 
in  it. 


VISIT  AT  THE  WEST.  14! 

Under  the  direction  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  Establishment,  in  the  summer  of  1873,  he  visited 
the  West.  "You  are  going  for  rest,  I  presume," 
said  a  friend  to  him,  on  the  eve  of  his  departure. 
"Not  at  all,"  he  replied;  "but  for  earnest,  hard 
work."  This  he  did  in  Yearly  and  in  Quarterly 
Meetings,  and  in  other  gatherings,  as  well  as  in 
private.  He  did  it  for  the  closer  cementing  of  the 
denomination.  Performed  at  a  time  of  year  unfa- 
vorable for  endurance,  it  nearly  broke  down  both 
mind  and  body  ;  but  it  was  done  out  of  love  for  the 
people  of  his  choice.  He  went,  it  is  true,  as  the 
representative  of  the  interests  of  the  Morning  Star, 
but  seeking  higher  than  any  local  ends,  he  went  es- 
pecially as  the  representative  of  the  policy  and 
spirit  of  the  denomination,  of  which  the  Star  was 
only  the  exponent. 

Each  step  of  his  tour  through  the  West  was 
marked  by  address,  or  lecture,  or  some  effort  of  im- 
portant and  acceptable  character.  His  presence  in- 
spired new  confidence  in  our  general  denomination- 
al work,  and,  besides  greatly  endearing  him  to  our 
people  of  the  West,  bound  West  to  East  in  stronger, 
more  vital  bonds,  by  the  golden  threads  of  his  elo- 
quence,—  furnished  it  new  and  fuller  drawings  of 
brotherly  love  from  the  magnetic  impulses  of  his 
broad  and  genial  spirit.  A  needed  proof  was  given 


GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

by  his  visit,  of  the  sympathy  and  cordial  co  -  opera- 
tion of  the  eastern  portion  of  the  denomination  with 
the  efforts,  toward  upbuilding  and  prosperity, 
by  the  western. 

He  was  obliged  to  be  absent  from  the  office 
from  one  to  three  months  each  year,  on  account  of 
sickness.  Such  discouragements  arose  from  this 
source  that  he  often  spoke  of  giving  up  his  work 
altogether.  The  routine  of  editorial  life  was  at 
times  irksome,  —  too  stereotyped  for  his  ambition, 
and  too  confining  for  his  health,  and  he  was  not 
disinclined  to  listen  to  requests  for  his  labors  in 
other  spheres.  This  was  specially  true  at  the  time 
both  of  his  first  and  his  second  election  to  the 
Presidency  of  Hillsdale  College. 

*'  In  some  respects  he  wished  to  go  to  Hillsdale  ; 
in  other  respects  he  feared  to  go.  Some  of  the 
firmest  friends  of  the  College,  and  who  did 
most  to  secure  his  election,  said  to  me  last  summer : 
'  We  are  glad  Dr.  Day  did  not  come.  The  expec- 
tations in  regard  to  his  work  were  so  high,  that  no 
man  could  meet  them ;  he  must  have  disappointed 
them,  after  doing  a  hundred  per  cent,  better  than 
any  other  man,  and  the  consequent  loss  of  interest 
and  confidence  would  have  distressed  him.'  I  have 
no  doubt  that  this  view  of  the  matter,  in  connection 
with  the  decided  wish  of  the  Corporators  to  retain 
him,  led  to  a  negative  decision.  "* 

*Kev.  I.  D.  Stewart. 


CHANGES    IN   THE   MORNING   STAR.  143 

In  his  annual  report  to  the  Board  of  Corporators 
in  1867,  he  presented  and  urged  the  matter  of  en- 
largement of  the  Morning  Star,  asking  that  all 
questions  involved,  especially  that  of  expense, 
be  thoroughly  and  minutely  considered.  This 
change  would  involve  increased  expenditures  in  a 
number  of  ways,  besides  in  the  important  items  of 
a  larger  press  and  additional  room.  The  Board  de- 
cided to  purchase  the  other  half  of  the  Morning 
Star  building,  owned  by  the  Washington  Street 
church,  remodel  and  enlarge  it,  buy  a  new  press, 
and  change  the  form  and  size  of  the  Star  from 
folio  to  quarto.  The  expense  of  these  exten- 
sive, radical  changes  was  $26,000. 

The  removal  of  the  Star  from  Dover  to  some 
larger  and  more  central  city  had  been  agitated, 
more  or  less,  for  twenty  years  previous  to  the  death 
of  Mr.  Burr.  Soon  after  Dr.  Day  became  editor, 
inquiries  were  instituted  afresh  in  respect  to  the 
feasibility  of  removal ;  they  were  continued  from 
year  to  year,  there  appearing  meanwhile  "  no  suffi- 
cient encouragement  to  justify  any  recommenda- 
tion."  In  1873,  he  was  very  anxious  for  removal, 
and  accordingly  a  committee  was  appointed  which 
reported  at  great  length  at  a  special  meeting,  April 
15,  1874.  Boston  was  selected  as  the  place  to 
which  the  Star  should  be  removed  as  soon  as  prac- 


GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

ticable.  In  September  following,  it  was  decided  that 
the  editorial  office  should  be  removed  previous  to 
January  i,  and  the  mechanical  and  business  depart- 
ments the  next  spring. 

At  the  meeting  of  April  15,  as  he  was  but  par- 
tially convalescent  from  an  illness  of  several  weeks 
duration,  he  was  granted  leave  of  absence  until  the 
annual  meeting  in  September.  The  last  ten  weeks 
of  this  vacation  were  spent  chiefly  in  Nova  Scotia. 
As  we  remember  the  experiences  awaiting  him,  his 
speedy  decline  and  close  of  life,  it  is  a  melancholy 
pleasure  to  see  him  coming  back  from  the  healing 
ministry  of  nature,  with  stronger  pulses  and  a  more 
resolute  will,  —  with  the  closing  words  of  his  last 
letter  from  the  woods  : 

"  To-day  I  set  my  face  homeward.  I  shall  long 
keep  in  memory  what  I  can  not  now  put  into  words, 
—  the  beautiful  scenery,  the  agricultural  prosperity 
and  wealth,  and  the  pleasant  social  and  Christian 
fellowship  offered  to  eye  and  heart  along  the  banks 
of  this  noble  river  of  St.  John.  And  now  for  the 
home  that  awaits  me,  and  for  the  broader  plans  and 
higher  work  that  plead  for  what  is  truest  in  my 
heart,  wisest  in  my  brain  and  strongest  in  my 
hands." 

It  was  no  freak  of  enthusiasm  when  he  confi- 
dently said,  on  returning:  ""I  feel  like  going  on 
bravely,  and  do  not  see  why  I  may  not  do  hearty 


GIRDING    ANEW    FOR    WORK.  145 

work  for  twenty  years  more."  New  plans  awaited 
his  direction,  and  he  would  richly  develop  them ; 
new  hopes  animated  him,  and  a  fresh  courage  put 
languor  and  weakness  at  bay. 

In  his  formal  report  to  the  Corporators,  at  the 
annual  meeting  in  September, he  says  :  "The  rest  has 
been  very  serviceable  and  grateful  to  me,  as  I  have 
steadily  and  conscientiously  devoted  myself  to 
health  -  seeking.  I  meant  one  thing — rest  and  rec- 
reation ;  and  in  some  measure  I  have  won  it.  The 
tone  of  the  general  system  has  not  been  better  for 
seven  years,  and  the  brain  has  been  rested  into 
comparative  quietude^and  comfort.  I  am  certainly 
hopeful  for  the  future,  as  I  am  grateful  for  the  past 
and  present."  That  these  gains  might  be  confirmed 
and  made  enduring,  another  month  was  added  to 
his  respite  from  editorial  labor.  The  result  was 
gratifying  and  hopeful. 

The  newly  gained  strength  was  made  subject  to 
another  and  unexpected  draft.  He  grasped,  in 
mind  and  heart,  as  that  "  higher  work  "  and  those 
"  broader  plans,"  the  infusing  of  new  vitality  into 
the  Morning  Star,  making  it  a  greater  and  more 
welcome  power  for  good,  as  it  should  be  issued 
from  its  new  home.  But  he  faltered  in  weakness 
upon  the  threshold  of  the  new  enterprise,  and  his 
hands  fell  in  feebleness  just  as  the  joyfully  antici- 


GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

pated  work   asked   for   efficient    inauguration    and 
prosecution. 

The  F.  Baptist  General  Conference  assembled  in 
Providence,  R.  I.,  Oct.  7,  1874.  During  the  ses- 
sion, Dr.  Day  served  as  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Education,  addressed  the  Free  Baptist  Woman's 
Mission  Society,  and  met  frequent  demands,  made 
in  a  general  way,  upon  his  time  and  strength. 
These  usual  burdens  he  had  been  able  to  bear  with 
usual  success,  but  when  to  them  was  added  the 
long  confinement  connected  with  the  sessions  of  the 
Committee  on  Publications,  and  his  labors,  arising 
from  the  discussion  of  issues  involved  in  its  re- 
port before  the  Conference  — labors  made  addition- 
ally severe  from  his  anxiety  to  maintain  a  fair  and 
impartial  position  —  his  strength  gave  way  ;  and  as 
the  audience  rose  to  sing  the  parting  hymn,  he  fell 
into  the  arms  of  his  friends  in  nervous  spasms. 

We  need,  perhaps,  refer  to  that  discussion  only 
to  say  that  his  views  and  position  were  freely, 
frankly  stated,  with  courtesy  and  dignity,  to  the 
Conference,  and  subsequently,  through  the  columns 
of  the  Star,  to  the  public.  If  the  labor  and  aliena- 
tions, arising  directly  or  indirectly  from  that  dis- 
cussion, were  too  severe  for  his  physical  strength 
and  sensitive  spirit,  he  never  allowed  any  word  of 
complaint  or  censure  to  escape  him. 


DISCUSSION   AT    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.         147 

Not  only  was  he  anxious  during  the  discussions 
to  avoid  any  utterance  or  the  exhibition  of  any  spirit 
calculated  to  wound  or  estrange,  but  he  was  equal- 
ly anxious,  in  his  subsequent  reports  and  comments 
in  the  Star,  to  exhibit  impartiality,  truthfulness  and 
fairness.  Repeatedly,  and  in  the  most  noticeable 
manner,  in  the  weeks  following,  did  he  earnestly 
request  his  friends  to  state  to  him  their  impres- 
sions in  respect  to  the  form  and  spirit  with  which 
his  statements  in  the  Star  seemed  to  be  attended, — 
always  expressing  an  eager  desire  to  suitably  atone 
for  any  failure  in  kindliness  and  fairness,  should 
any  appear. 

Nor  were  his  efforts  in  the  Conference,  in  con- 
nection with  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Publi- 
cations, the  offspring  of  the  moment's  resolve  and 
purpose ;  it  was  no  personal  caprice  that  compacted 
his  utterances  and  directed  his  argument,  but  the 
impulsion  of  his  love  for  the  interests  of  his  denom- 
ination, and  of  his  unquenchable  devotion  to  them. 
He  felt  that  the  time  had  come  for  a  masterly  and 
thorough  defense,  a  vindication  and  an  upholding 
of  the  policy  and  interests  of  the  denomination,  as 
he  clearly  apprehended  them  ;  the  maintainance  of 
which  involved,  in  no  insignificant  way,  its  integ- 
rity, if  not  its  existence.  With  this  belief  and  this 
persuasion,  he  spoke  and  wrought.  He  simply  en- 


GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

deavored  to  defend  the  Star,  as  the  long  -  time  val- 
ued exponent  of  the  principles  and  policy  of  the  de- 
nomination. Urged  by  no  mere  personal  preference, 
nor  swayed  by  private  ambition,  but  by  a  fervent, 
long  -  cherished  desire  to  promote  our  denomina- 
tional welfare, —  this  was  his  chief  inspiration,  and 
when  his  service  was  rendered  he  had  no  more 
strength  to  yield  us ;  he  had  bowed  himself  with  a 
last,  conscientious,  hearty  effort, —  there  was  noth- 
ing left  him  but  to  die. 

From  the  general  exhaustion,  of  which  the  severe 
spasms  were  the  index,  he  came  back  slowly  to 
consciousness  through  timely  and  efficient  ministra- 
tions, but  his  mind  never  regained  its  former  tone. 
He  said  repeatedly  in  the  next  three  months,  "  My 
mind  has  had  no  elasticity  since  those  terrible 
shocks  at  Conference."  Yet  it  occasionally  seemed 
to  rally  and  work  with  unusual  clearness,  produc- 
ing some  of  his  finest,  strongest  editorials. 

Preparations  for  locating  the  Star  in  Boston  were 
continued,  as  no  serious  cause  for  alarm  was  appre- 
hended, and  about  Christmas  he  removed  with  his 
family  to  that  city.  On  the  6th  of  January,  1875, 
the  Star  was  issued  from  its  new  home.  In  the  ed- 
itorial of  that  date,  which  is  headed:  "  Forward 
Steps,"  he  says : 

"  The  Corporators  have  not  been  hasty  and  head- 


REMOVAL    OF    THE    STAR    TO    BOSTON.  149 

long  in  reaching  the  decision  to  put  the  paper  into 
this  advanced  position.  To  more  or  less  observers 
they  have  perhaps  seemed  timid  and  slow.  But 
they  could  not  consent  to  presume  and  hurry.  Too 
much  was  involved  to  warrant  that.  They  have 
deliberated  not  a  little.  They  have  sought  to  weigh 
carefully  the  arguments  on  both  sides.  They  have 
consulted  not  only  their  own  judgments,  but  also 
those  of  their  constituents.  One  aim  has  been 
steadily  held, — to  find  the  way  in  which  they  could 
best  serve  the  denomination,  and  the  great  cause  it 
stands  for,  and  then  walk  in  it. 

"  They  have  chosen  the  progressive  policy,  taking 
its  added  responsibilities  and  larger  risks.  It  is  one 
of  several  such  choices,  though  few  have  involved 
so  much  as  this.  They  have  thus  heeded  the  plea 
for  an  advance  ;  they  have  confided  in  the  pledges 
of  fresh  co  -  operation  ;.  they  have  gone  prompt- 
ly at  work  to  make  practical  the  decision  which 
many  brethren  in  various  sections  of  the  country 
have  strongly  and  thankfully  approved,  and  whose 
wisdom  the  late  General  Conference  recognized. 

"  Going  to  Boston  will  not  of  itself  secure  any  great 
gains.  Mere  change  of  place  is  not  of  much  ac- 
count. It  is  less  where  the  paper  is  than  what  it  is, 
that  decides  its  mission  ;  it  is  what  the  writers  for 
its  columns  put  into  it,  and  what  its  professed 
friends  do  in  putting  it  into  the  hands  of  real  and  re- 
ceptive readers  who  give  it  support,  while  they  are 
quickened  by  its  messages, —  it  is  this  that  decides 
whether  it  shall  be  a  power  for  lasting  good. 


GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

"  It  will  indeed  have  a  chance  to  speak  now  from 
a  more  noticeable  platform ;  it  may  utter  itself 
where  observing  men  see,  and  thoughtful  men 
hear ;  it  may  be  more  freely  acted  on  by  the  special 
influences  that  heave  and  throb  in  a  great  commer- 
cial, literary  and  religious  centre.  But  nothing  save 
painstaking,  and  hard  work,  and  a  living  and  prac- 
tical interest  on  the  part  of  all  its  real  friends,  to  fill 
it  from  week  to  week  with  just  what  will  stir  and 
bless  the  readers,  can  render  it  what  we  all  long  to 
see  it  become.  Unless  removal  means  more  work 
and  harder,  on  the  part  of  both  its  managers  here 
and  its  friends  elsewhere,  we  shall  lose  rather  than 
gain.  Now  is  the  time  for  fresh  and  vigorous 
effort.  We  who  supervise  it  mean  to  rise  to  our 
duty  and  opportunity.  Will  its  friends  elsewhere  at 
once  and  generally  do  the  same  thing? 

"The  'Western  Department'  of  the  paper  we 
trust  will  be  a  matter  of  special  interest  to  our  read- 
ers and  brethren  in  that  part  of  the  field.  We  hope 
it  may  help  to  make  them., feel  that  the  paper  is 
really  theirs,  and  that  they  will  use  it  freely  as  a 
medium  of  communication  with  each  other,  and  also 
with  that  part  of  our  religious  household  nearer  the 
Atlantic.  Especially  may  it  be  a  bond  of  union  be- 
tween different  sections  of  the  F.  Baptist  denomina- 
tion, and  at  the  same  time  a  token  of  real  fellowship 
between  us  and  brethren  of  other  households  of 
faith  with  whom  we  are  in  substantial  accord.  We 
wish  it  to  serve  the  great  end  of  enlarging  the  plans, 
cementing  the  hearts  and  uniting  the  efforts  of  those 


FAILING    HEALTH. 

who  are  laboring  together  with  God  for  the  highest 
welfare  of  men. 

"  These  forward  steps,  therefore,  already  taken, 
mean  steady  advance  and  ascent.  Keeping  clear 
of  presumption,  aiming  always  to  be  thoughtful  and 
discreet,  we  express  our  thorough  belief  in  try- 
ing to  do  something  real, —  in  daring  for  the  sake 
of  achieving, —  in  the  brave  heart  and  the  ringing 
word, —  in  the  heroism  which  prefers  to  fall,  if  it 
must,  in  the  storming  column,  rather  than  stagnate 
and  die  in  the  cleft  of  the  rock  where  cowards  try  to 
hide  from  danger  and  toil.  Is  it  too  much  to  hope 
that  our  readers  share  our  faith  ?  " 

The  taxation  of  strength  arising  from  change  of 
residence,  from  the  performance  of  arduous  and 
perplexing  duties  in  the  new  office,  with  other  pe- 
culiar burdens,  developed  still  further  signs  of  ab- 
normal mental  action,  which  had  begun  to  appear 
early  in  December.  Still,  in  the  editorial  above 
quoted,  he  could  say :  "  We  express  our  thorough 
belief  .  .  in  the  brave  heart  and  the  ringing  word, 
—  in  the  heroism  which  prefers  to  fall — ."  We 

* 

miss  the  "  ringing  word  "  after  this,  but  we  find  the 
"brave  heart"  and  the  "heroism,"  more  abun- 
dantly. 

Jan.  26,  he  said  to  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  Corporators : 

"  I  know  that  my  mind  is  in  a  morbid  condition, 


152  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

and  I  try  to  make  due  allowance  for  my  reasonings 
and  conclusions  in  view  of  the  fact ;  and  I  some- 
times logically  bring  myself  to  a  bright  conclusion, 
and  say  to  myself,  stick  to  that !  But,  in  spite  of 
myself,  such  a  terrible  depression  comes  over  me 
that  I  sink  under  it."  Then  he  added  :  "  I  am  feel- 
ing better  to  -  day ;  have  rested  better  for  a  few 
nights,  so  am  more  hopeful.  I  half  believe  that  I 
am  over  the  worst,  and  shall  soon  be  able  to  take 
my  place  here  in  the  office." 

But  new  and  fearful  symptoms  followed,  such  as 
he  had  never  before  experienced.  Daily  he  seemed 
looking  as  if  for  some  terrible  calamity ;  became  the 
prey  of  false  or  exaggerated  alarms ;  and,  amid 
great  distrust  of  his  powers  and  dark  forebodings, 
feared  his  mind  would  give  way  utterly. 

The  Corporators  enjoined  complete  rest  from  all 
thought,  even,  of  work,  and  granted  him  respite 
until  the  following  September. 

But  cherishing  still,  with  intensity,  the  idea  of 
work,  he  attempted  from  week  to  week  to  furnish 
something  for  the  columns  of  the  Star,  with  what 
emotions,  this  note  of  February  loth  will  show  : 

"  MY  DEAR  MOSHER  :  I  tried  to  fix  up  a  few 
*  Current  Topics,'  but  the  result  is  small  and  poor. 
I  hesitated  about  putting  them  in,  but  I  let  them  go. 
They  ought  to  be  far  better,  but  all  the  present 
products  of  brain  and  heart  are  sadly  lacking. 
How  hard  it  is  to  be  forced  into  inactivity  at  such  a 


CLOSE    OF   ACTIVE    SERVICE.  1 53 

time  as  this,  I  pray  you  may  never  know.  How 
anxious  I  am  for  you,  and  for  the  interests  to  which 
you  now  stand  so  closely  related  !  May  God  help 
and  keep  you  !  I  can  not  tell  how  much  I  may  do 
for  the  Star  hereafter.  I  do  n't  know  how  much  it 
is  wise  to  try  to  do,  when  work  strains  and  quietude 
brings  all  sorts  of  thoughts  and  fancies.  But  the 
wise  way  may  appear.  I  try  to  think  it  will." 

He  had  just  previously  written  to  the  Corpora- 
tors : 

"  I  wish  the  right  way  were  plain  to  me,  but  little 
light  comes.  I  am  not  sure  that  any  considerable 
part  of  my  thinking  is  trustworthy,  for  the  mental 
moods  change  radically,  it  may  be,  every  hour.  I 
hoped  yesterday  I  might  be  a  little  better,  but  the 
dizziness,  confusion,  and  the  tendencies  to  settle 
into  absolute  and  cowardly  hopelessness  come  in  a 
stronger  current  to-day.  Sometimes  for  an  hour 
the  will  springs  up  with  a  calm  or  a  half-  desperate 
energy  to  conquer  the  depression,  but  it  falls  away 
again  speedily." 

The  desire  to  work  is  still  uppermost.  He  does 
not  speak  of  himself  with  anxiety,  but  of  his  work  : 

"  I  wish  I  were  surer  of  myself  and  service 

I  shall  try  to  look  up  steadily,  and  be  patient  and 
brave  as  1  can."  "Shall  send  more  copy  if  lean  ;" — 
this,  when  he  expected  daily  to  fail,  and  could  "  not 
feel  sure  of  standing  twenty  -  four  hours,"  and  must 
say  :  "I  have  been  to  the  office  a  part  of  every  day, 


154  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

but  I  never  feel  confident  of  coming  again  when  I 
leave  it."  Persistently  wishing  and  attempting  to 
do  more,  though  physical  and  mental  foes  arose 
against  him  with  fearful  and  increasing  power,  he 
sings  from  amid  the  final  conflict  with  a  victorious 
spirit,  as  he  dictates  his  last  editorial  to  his  younger 
daughter,  walking  the  room  in  agony,  with  hands 
pressed  forcibly  against  his  temples.  At  such  an 
hour  "God  as  a  helper"  appeared  before  him  in 
beauty,  sweetness  and  power ;  enduing  him  with 
confidence  and  breathing  comfort,  —  "Coming 
freest  when  we  need  him  most." 

It  is  his  priceless  legacy,  the  parting  gift  of  heart 
and  mind  to  the  world,  fragrant  with  the  balm  of 
comfort,  strong  in  its  grasp  of  the  pillars  of  confi- 
dence,—  an  inspiration  to  courage  and  strength  : 

GOD  AS  A  HELPER.* 

God's  influence  upon  us  depends  largely  on  the 
view  we  take  of  him.  That  is  why  we  are  taught 
so  much  in  the  Scripture  of  his  qualities  and  rela- 
tions. That,  too,  is  why  such  pains  are  taken  to 
disabuse  us  of  false  notions  of  him.  That  is  also 
why  idolatry,  or  the  worship  of  false  gods,  is  so 
strongly  protested  against,  because  false  views  work 
moral  mischief.  Men  are  like  the  gods  they  con- 
ceive. Looking,  we  are  changed  into  the  same  im- 

*Morning  Star  of  Feb.  24, 1875. 


LAST    EDITORIAL.  155 

age.  Thinking  of  God  as  lawgiver  makes  a  sturdy 
conscience.  Conceiving  of  him  as  beneficent  tends 
to  increase  gratitude.  Making  him  father  renders 
the  spirit  filial  and  tender  and  trustful.  The  true 
knowledge  of  him, —  that  which  enables  us  to  ap- 
prehend him  in  his  vital  relations  to  us, —  goes  far 
to  induce  that  inward  state  and  putward  conduct 
which  imply  salvation.  That  is  the  thought  ex- 
pressed by  Christ  in  his  prayer  :  '  This  is  life  eter- 
nal, that  they  might  know  thee,  the  only  true  God, 
and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  has  sent.' 

"  It  is  worth  much  to  a  human  soul  to  be  able  to 
take  vital  hold  of  the  idea  that  God  is  its  real  helper. 
He  is  often  and  strongly  set  forth  as  such.  '  God 
is  our  refuge  and  strength,  a  very  present  help  in 
trouble.'  <  I  will  strengthen  thee  ;  I  will  help  thee  ; 
yea,  I  will  uphold  thee  with  the  hand  of  my  right- 
eousness.' '  Fear  thou  not,  for  I  am  with  thee ; 
be  not  dismayed,  for  I  am  thy  God.'  '  He  giveth 
power  to  the  faint,  and  to  them  who  have  no  might 
he  increaseth  strength.'  These  are  only  specimens 
of  the  words  which  pledge  the  infinite  aid  to  human 
souls.  Such  words  abound  in  Scripture.  They 
light  up  its  pages  as  stars  light  the  winter  heaven. 
They  are  not  mere  bursts  of  rhetoric.  They  do  not 
spring  from  the  tendency  to  exaggerate  which 
marks  the  writers  of  the  East.  They  express  only 
what  has  been  found  true  in  many  a  human  experi- 
ence. And  these  experiences  are  found  on  the 
common  as  well  as  on  the  loftier  levels  of  life. 
They  interpret  themselves  in  the  heart  of  the  peas- 


1^6  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

ant  as  well  as  in  the  soul  that  walks  in  royalty  of 
place  or  power.  And  wherever  this  truth  is  real- 
ized it  comes  as  a  gift  of  strength,  of  courage,  of 
confidence,  of  comfort. 

"  Of  Strength.  This  often  proves  a  hard  world  to 
men  and  women.  The  barriers  in  their  way  are 
many  and  great.  The  forces  that  oppose  them 
mock  at  their  might.  It  seems  like  a  pigmy  con- 
tending with  giants.  They  are  every  now  and  then 
baffled  and  beaten.  The  struggle  for  bread  is  often 
a  hard  one ;  the  struggle  for  integrity  is  often  a 
much  fiercer  thing.  To  keep  a  good  conscience 
seems,  at  times,  well  -  nigh  impossible.  But  when 
one  has  grasped  and  taken  home  the  idea  of  God's 
helpfulness,  it  is  a  great  gain.  He  is  almighty.  He 
rules  in  the  earth.  He  is  pledged  to  aid  the  true 
and  trustful.  What  they  lack,  he  can  give.  As  a 
soldier  in  the  advance  column  is  ten  times  the  hero 
he  would  otherwise  be  because  he  sees  the  whole 
army  of  disciplined  veterans  at  his  back  and  knows 
it  will  support  his  attack,  so  a  weak  Christian  is 
braced  into  a  strong  one  when  really  assured  that 
God  is  at  hand  with  succor  and  help.  He  will  at 
once  be  abler  to  dare,  endure  and  do.  And  though 
we  may  not  quite  know  how  it  is  that  God  breathes 
his  might  into  a  feeble  nature,  the  fact  is  often  plain 
enough,  a*nd  the  result  shows  how  real  and  large 
and  wondrous  is  the  gift  of  power  which  is  granted. 

"  Of  Courage.  A  brave  soul  is  half  a  victor  be- 
cause of  its  bravery.  A  courageous  look  scares 
half  one's  perils  away  and  demoralizes  the  rest. 


LAST    EDITORIAL.  157 

They  who  never  give  up  are  they  who  compel 
others  to  yield  to  them.  They  may  seem  to  be 
beaten,  but  they  are  on  their  feet  again  the  next  in- 
stant, and  girded  for  another  fight.  This  quality, 
when  it  is  simply  human  rather  than  Christian,  is 
the  backbone  of  manhood  and  the  key  that  unlocks 
half  the  doors  to  success.  It  is  greatly  needed  in 
the  Christian  sphere.  It  gives  steadiness  and  per- 
sistence to  effort.  It  braces  the  will.  It  renders 
purpose  like  rock.  It  makes  a  song  break  often 
out  of  cloud  and  tempest.  It  prompts  cheerful 
daring  and  doing,  and  each  step  taken  under  its  in- 
spiring influence  suggests  a  conqueror  marching  to 
his  triumph. — There  is  nothing  else  that  will  give 
this  quality  in  its  highest  and  best  form  like  the 
sense  of  God's  nearness  and  the  full  assurance  of 
his  help.  When  he  is  thus  apprehended  as  the 
helper,  fears  lessen,  hopes  rise,  and  the  very  thought 
of  retreat  and  surrender  is  displaced  by  a  fresh  res- 
olution. 

"  Of  Confidence.  '  If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be 
against  us?  '  That  is  the  question  of  one  to  whom 
God's  helpfulness  was  a  constant  reality  in  experi- 
ence as  well  as  a  leading  article  of  faith.  Such  a 
soul  is  beyond  serious  and  palsying  doubt.  There 
is  ever  a  calm  looking  for  victory.  There  may  be 
clouds,  dangers,  disasters,  repulses,  but,  in  spite  of 
all,  there  is  the  calm  utterance,  —  '  I  know  that  my 
Redeemer  liveth ; '  *  I  know  whom  I  have  be- 
lieved ; '  '  Though  I  walk  through  the'  valley  of 
the  shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil ; ' 


1 5  8  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

'  Thanks  be  unto  God  who  giveth  us  the  victory  ! ' 
Such  a  sense  of  God's  helpfulness  is  a  blessing  that 
no  words  may  fully  express.  What  it  is  worth  only 
they  can  know  of  whose  life  it  has  become  a  part. 
It  is  at  once  the  rock  on  which  their  feet  rest  with- 
out shaking  and  the  distant  peal  of  the  trumpet 
that  heralds  their  coronation. 

11  Of  Comfort.  '  Because  thou  hast  been  my  help, 
therefore  under  the  shadow  of  thy  wings  will  I  re- 
joice.' It  is  worth  more  to  us  than  words  can  ex- 
press, at  times,  to  have  a  strong,  noble,  capable 
human  friend  assure  us  that  we  are  not  to  be  for- 
gotten or  left  unaided  in  our  need.  But  for  such 
words,  how  many  hearts  would  have  utterly  sunk, 
which,  stirred  by  them,  have  lifted  up  their  eyes  in 
gladness,  smiled  through  their  tears,  and  stopped 
their  sighs  with  a  song.  And  when  it  is  God  that 
comes  with  both  the  pledge  and  the  gift  of  help,  the 
comfort  is  sometimes  so  deep  and  peculiar  as  to 
choke  speech  with  gratitude  and  blur  the  vision  with 
tender  tears.  There  is  no  other  comfort  like  that ; 
he  who  has  it  in  abundance  is  rich  in  the  divinest 
possessions  and  his  heart  can  never  go  unsolaced. 

"  God  is  such  a  helper,  even  though  we  fail  to 
take  home  the  fact.  He  is  a  helper  to  such  as  we, 
to  those  plagued  with  our  trials,  burdened  with  our 
weaknesses,  lorn  with  our  sorrows,  tossed  about  with 
our  anxieties  and  fears.  It  is  to  the  actual  levels 
and  experiences  of  our  daily  life  that  he  thus 
comes,  low  and  bitter  as  these  may  be.  He  is  even 
now  near  and  ready  to  aid  us  in  getting  on  and 


LAST    EDITORIAL.  159 

through  and  over  hindrances  and  discouragements. 
He  comes  freest  when  we  need  him  most.  He 
comes  in  spite  of  folly  and  sin  if  we  are  in  earnest 
to  get  rid  of  both,  though  a  sincere,  loving  and  reso- 
lute fidelity  is  what  will  make  this  help  of  his  seem 
most  real,  abundant,  sure  and  precious.  Without 
that  help  even  the  strongest  are  liable  to  fail,  while 
with  it  even  the  fearful  and  feeble  are  going  on  to 
certain  victory.  We  want  many  things,  both  for 
the  sake  of  the  inward  life  and  the  outward  success, 
but  this  is  the  chief  and  vital  thing  on  which  almost 
all  else  depends.1' 


V. 

MEMORIALS 

OF  HIS 
DEATH   AND    CHARACTER. 

"  Champion  of  Jesus,  on  that  breast 

From  which  thy  fei-vor  flowed, 
Thou  hast  obtained  eternal  rest, 
Tae  bosoui  of  thy  God." 

It  was  deemed  best  that  he  should  remove  from 
Boston  to  the  quiet  of  his  sister's  home  in  Provi- 
dence, where  he  might  enjoy  the  kindly,  valuable 
ministrations  of  long  -  cherished  friends.  On  the 
morning  of  the  day  on  which  he  was  to  leave  Bos- 
ton, —  a  little  more  than  a  week  after  writing  his 
last  editorial  and  about  the  time  of  its  appearance 
in  the  Star, —  he  conducted  prayers  for  the  last  time 
with  his  family,  singing,  "Jesus,  lover  of  my 
soul,"  with  great  tenderness  of  expression. 

Thence  we  follow  him  amid  shadows  and  inscru- 
table darkness  which  gathered  thickly  around  him, 


MEMORIALS.  l6l 

as  a  traveler  ascending  some  mountain  height  at 
even  -  tide,  which  distort  and  make  unreal  his 
bodily  and  mental  form,  and  by  which,  as  he  looks 
back  upon  us  for  some  weeks,  his  own  view  of  us 
and  of  the  earth  he  was  leaving,  suffers  distortion. 
But  he  is  only  climbing  the  last  summit  which  God 
had  marked  for  his  weary  feet,  and  at  early  even- 
ing, May  21,  he  entered  the  gates  of  the  city  of  ref- 
uge and  rest.  We  look  tearfully  after  him  f  wonder- 
ing and  dumb  over  the  last  steps  of  his  way,  amid 
mental  gloom  and  despair  that  make  the  shadow  of 
a  great  affliction  seem  denser ;  but  we  know  it  was 
only  the  chosen  way  into  eternal  light  of  "  one  of 
the  few,  now  and  then  shown  us  in  the  long  history 
of  God's  people,  whom  God  could  trust  under  trial, 
and  whose  life  had  been  too  illustrious  to  need  the 
witness  of  an  unclouded  departure." 

In  the  church  which  had  been  filled  many  times 
by  those  whom  his  preaching  had  moved  and  help- 
ed, he  gathered  his  last  congregation  about  him  on 
the  afternoon  of  Tuesday,  May  25  ;  his  voice  was 
not  heard,  but  his  silence  was  more  impressive  and 
eloquent  than  speech.  The  Roger  Williams  church 
was  filled  by  representatives  of  the  denomination 
from  a  distance,  and  the  large  circles  of  friendship 
and  acquaintance  in  the  city,  and  the  immediate 
churches  of  the  R.  I.  Association.  It  was  the  day 


l62  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

for  the  opening  of  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Asso- 
ciation in  which  for  many  years  he  was  the  leading 
spirit  and  light  and  guide ;  a  large  number  of  its 
clergymen  were  present,  together  with  many  others 
both  from  within  and  beyond  the  limits  of  the  city 
and  the  State. 

The  pulpit  was  appropriately  draped.  Floral 
tributes,  abundant  and  rich,  significant  and  touch- 
ing, emblematic  of  his  life  or  emphasizing  some 
peculiar  feature  of  it,  were  contributions  of  love  and 
esteem  from  the  office  of  the  Morning  Star,  and 
from  many  whom  his  pastoral  labors,  in  Providence 
and  elsewhere,  had  signally  blessed. 

Brief  addresses  were  made,  portraying  his  char- 
acter in  its  more  marked  and  obvious  aspects. 

Rev.  A.  H.  Heath,  pastor  of  the  Roger  Williams 
church,  spoke  of  his  eminent,  valuable  ministerial 
services,  paying  tribute  to  the  modesty  and  faithful- 
ness with  which  they  were  performed,  and  the  sub- 
stantial quality  of  his  unsought  fame  as  a  preacher. 

Rev.  I.  D.  Stewart,  agent  of  the  Morning  Star, 
referred  to  his  editorial  and  general  work ;  saying 
that  while  others  may  have  done  more  for  the  de- 
nomination in  special  fields,  no  one,  in  a  broad  and 
comprehensive  sense,  ever  accomplished  so  much 
for  it, — almost  equally  at  home  in  every  department 
of  its  work,  and  bearing  burdens  which  almost  no 


MEMORIALS.  163 

other  one  would  have  sacrificed  ease  and  strength 
to  do. 

Remarks  were  made  by  the  writer,  in  respect  of 
his  position  and  labors  as  an  educator  by  voice  and 
pen,  by  his  identification  with  our  literature  and  the 
management  of  our  schools  and  colleges.  Episodes 
of  his  life  were  narrated,  illustrating  the  patriot,  the 
scholar  and  the  Christian  minister. 

Rev.  Mowry  Phillips,  for  many  years  an  intimate 
friend  of  Dr.  Day,  spoke  of  him  in  the  genial,  ap- 
preciative and  kind  intercourse  of  home  life,  which 
his  taste  and  daily  converse  supplied  with  pleasant 
and  refining  associations.  He  also  paid  tribute  to 
his  sympathetic,  patient  and  helpful  character  as  a 
personal  friend. 

After  the  reading  of  expressions  of  love  and  sor- 
row from  the  church  in  Dover,  of  which  he  was  a 
member,  prayer  was  offered  by  Rev.  Theodore 
Stevens,  and  the  impressive,  affecting  services  were 
ended. 

His  body  was  removed  to  its  resting  place,  as  the 
rain  was  falling  heavily,  at  Mulberry  Grove,  in  the 
adjoining  town  of  Cranston, —  a  retired,  beautiful 
spot,  fragrant  with  flowers  and  resinous  evergreens, 
attractive  by  its  shade  and  sweet  quiet,  where  he 
once  delighted  to  walk,  refreshed  by  its  ministra- 
tions to  mind  and  body, —  "the  sweetest  spot  on 


164  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

earth  !  "  Since  his  dust  now  reposes  there,  we  may 
repeat  with  greater  significance  his  words  when  he 
recorded  the  burial  of  Martin  Cheney  :  "  Few  spots 
1  there  are,  more  suggestive  of  sanctified  thought  and 
chastened  religious  feeling,  to  those  who  have  lin- 
gered among  its  graves,  than  '  Mulberry  Grove 
Cemetery.' "  Over  his  grave  a  chaste  granite 
monument  has  been  erected  to  his  memory,  chief- 
ly by  friends  in  the  R.  I.  Association. 

"  The  heart  of  the  denomination  beat  to  the  fall- 
ing of  its  tears,"  when  the  message  reached  it  of  the 
great  bereavement.  At  the  office  of  the  Star,  "  the 
absolute  worthlessness  of  words  to  express  the  deep- 
er emotions  of  the  soul  was  demonstrated  as  scarce- 
ly ever  before."  On  the  Sunday  following  his  buri- 
al, special  memorial  services  were  held  in  several 
churches,  and  his  life  and  character  were  alluded 
to  in  many  others  with  more  or  less  fullness.  The 
announcement  of  his  death  evoked  grief-  burdened 
responses  from  all  parts  of  the  land.  The  editorial 
profession  recorded  in  numerous  journals  its  loss, 
and,  representing  the  church  at  large,  bore  testimo- 
ny to  his  large,  catholic  services  as  those  of  "  a 
master  in  Israel."  Testimonials  to  his  literary  and 
editorial  ability,  his  gentlemanly  bearing,  his  warm 
and  genial  friendship,  his  culture,  broad  sympa- 
thies, fairness  and  piety  were  recorded  by  many  re- 


MEMORIALS.  165 

ligious  and  secular  papers.  The  Watchman  and 
Reflector  reproduced  in  full  the  editorial  of  the  Star 
of  June  2d  concerning  his  death  and  obsequies. 

Yearly  and  Quarterly  meetings,  the  oldest  organ- 
izations and  the  newest  alike,  gave  expression  to , 
their  sense  of  bereavement  while  passing  resolu- 
tions testifying  to  his  integrity  and  faithfulness  as  a 
servant  of  the  denomination,  and  acknowledging 
their  indebtedness  to  his  valuable  and  efficient  ser- 
vices. 

From  a  multitude  of  private  letters,  freighted 
with  heavy  grief  and  fragrant  in  the  offerings  with 
which  love  sought  to  embalm  his  memory,  we  give 
extracts  from  three : 

"  The  event  of  which  you  write  fills  my  heart 
and  absorbs  my  thoughts.  '  Bro.  Day  is  dead ! ' 
The  world  seems  lonesome  to  me.  How  much  and 
how  long  I  shall  miss  him.  Death  is  robbed  of  an- 
other of  his  darts  —  I  shall  feel  less  reluctant  to 
leave  this  world  and  go  home.  .  .Few  men  ever 
lived  that  were  equally  dear  to  all  their  friends.  I 
tind  it  hard  to  write  through  my  blinding  tears. 
He  was  a  wonderful  man,  mentally  and  spiritu- 
ally." 

•"Being  dead  he  yet  speaketh.'  Had  my  early 
life  been  spent  where  I  could  have  felt  his  moulding 
influence,  I  should  have  been  a  more  useful  minis- 
ter and  a  better  Christian.  " 

"We  never  saw  his  face;    we  never  heard  his 


1 66  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

voice ;  but  in  our  heart  there  is  a  shrine  where  his 
noble  teachings,  his  earnest  words,  his  Christian 
counsel,  his  cheering,  uplifting  words  of  apprecia- 
tion and  help  are  embalmed  in  perpetual  freshness. 
How  pure,  how  exalted  is  the  remembrance  of  his 
great  kindness  !  His  appreciative  estimate  of  the 
humblest  human  effort  to  reach  up  and  attain  purity 
and  goodness,  was  attended  by  a  readiness  to  aid  it." 


The  life  whose  progress  we  have  marked,  and 
whose  close  we  have  recorded,  was  eminently  one 
of  toil.  From  the  beginning  he  was  possessed  by 
an  intense  love  of  work,  and  gave  himself  intensely 
to  it.  "  Everything  is  saying  to  me  :  '  Whatsoever 
thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might,' "  he 
said.  His  fitting  motto  and  emblem  might  be  that  of 
McCheyne — "  The  night  cometh,"  inscribed  above 
a  setting  sun.  Until  the  pen  fell  from  his  nerveless 
grasp  in  a  vain  attempt,  in  March  last,  to  write  an- 
other editorial,  and  the  tired  feet  sought  the  final 
couch  of  pain,  he  toiled  on,  bravely,  heartily,  effect- 
ively. Nor  did  selfish  ease  and  personal  gratifica- 
tion ever  consume  his  time  and  claim  his  strength. 
His  vacations  were  forced  upon  him  by  wasted  en- 
ergies calling  upon  him  for  recuperation,  and  were 
accepted  simply  as  the  way  over  which  he  must  go 


MEMORIALS.  167 

to  prolonged  efficiency  in  the  service  of  Christ  and 
humanity.  His  life  of  labor  meant, —  if  it  meant 
anything, —  helpfulness.  This  he  sought  continu- 
ally to  incarnate  in  life  and  utter  through  his  lips. 
He  was  as  willing  to  serve  the  lowliest  as  the  high- 
est,—  once  assure  him  that  his  service  would  be 
welcome  to  him  who  sought  it.  Nor  in  his  fullest 
helpfulness,  and  most  valuable  service,  did  he  give 
the  impression  that  he  was  conscious  of  self-  sacri- 
fice or  of  the  greatness  of  the  favor  rendered. 

Characteristically  he  writes : 

"DEAR  MRS.  LINCOLN:  Thanks  for  all  the 
kind  things  your  heart  prompts  you  to  say  in  your 
letter ;  and  I  am  glad  if,  at  any  time  or  in  any  way, 
I  can  aid  any  human  soul  to  bear  its  inevitable  bur- 
dens with  added  patience,  and  look  through  the 
clouds  gathering  over  every  head,  with  a  faith  that 
sees  the  eternal  splendors  beyond." 

He  was  especially  the  servant  of  this  denomina- 
tion. He  studied  its  spirit  and  promise  carefully, 
and  sought  the  best  ways  by  which  service  could  be 
rendered.  He  did  not  shun  the  minute  forms  of  la- 
bor, and  welcomed  any  which  promised  to  furnish 
what  another  hand  or  voice  or  brain  would  not  be 
likely  to  yield. 

Having  heartily  and  fully  accepted  the  faith  and 
methods  of  work  peculiar  to  our  denomination,  he 
gave  himself  without  reserve  to  their  promotion. 


l68  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

Year  by  year  the  best  products  of  brain  and  the 
warmest  sympathies  of  heart  were  summoned  to  their 
support.  He  seemed  to  live  outside  himself  and 
find  his  chief  joy  in  this  work.  No  one  year  was 
freighted  with  such  hopeful,  large  and  comprehen- 
sive plans  for  denominational  prosperity  as  the  last 
of  his  life.  He  never  accepted  the  role  of  a  croaker, 
nor  of  a  prophet  of  evil,  over  our  deficiencies.  Nor 
did  he  scold  our  slowness,  nor  quarrel  with  our  pol- 
icy. He  was  not  blind  to  our  errors,  but  he  hoped 
and  labored  for  a  wiser  and  better  future.  He  con- 
fessed the  correctness  of  our  aims,  the  freeness  of 
our  policy,  the  acceptability  of  our  doctrines  to  men 
of  standing  and  culture  outside  the  denomination, 
fully  believing  them  worthy  of  commendation  and 
alliance. 

"  Once  going  with  Dr.  Day  from  Newport  to 
Providence,  upon  the  steamboat,  we  had  a  long  con- 
versation upon  the  mission  of  the  Free  Baptist 
Denomination.  He  thought  it  had  done  a  noble 
work,  but  that  even  a  greater  work  in  future  was 
in  store  for  it.  He  thought  the  territory  of  division 
between  the  '  Regular '  and  the  *  Freewill '  branch- 
es of  the  Baptist  family  was  becoming  more  narrow, 
and  hoped  they  might  have  closer  fellowship."* 

He  could  say  No,  emphatically  and  instantly,  to 
the  demand  for  his  forbearance  or  silence,  from  a 

*Rev.  Dr.  C.  II.  Malcom. 


MEMORIALS.  l6p 

popular  and  giant  wrong ;  he  was  hardly  strong 
enough  to  say  No,  even  when  crowded  by  labors 
sufficient  to  make  the  strongest  frame  and  nerves 
yield  under  the  pressure,  when  he  was  importuned 
for  lectures  and  sermons  —  for  service  outside  his 
special  sphere. 

He  was  early  impressed  that  his  years  were  to  be 
few.  The  impression  modified  his  term  of  study, 
increased  his  application,  and  filled  him  with  a  de- 
sire to  mark  the  years  with  largest,  highest  devo- 
tion to  toil.  He  had  been  accustomed  to  regard  his 
fortieth  year  as  the  probable  limit  of  his  life,  and 
when  year  after  year  beyond  it  was  granted,  allow- 
ing some  of  the  severest,  most  significant  labors,  he 
found  occasion  for  heartfelt  gratitude  and  thankful- 
ness. 

His  power  of  rallying  from  severe  mental  and 
physical  prostration  was  remarkable.  "  He  used  to 
surprise  us,"  writes  Mr.  Mosher,  "by  coming  into 
the  office  to  renew  his  work  when  we  had  only  the 
day  before,  perhaps,  sat  by  his  bedside  and 
found  him  too  weak  to  talk  much  above  a  whisper. 
One  day  we  read  to  him  a  description  of  a  heroic 
worker,  who,  in  the  midst  of  bodily  pains,  and 
critical  and  threatening  symptoms,  kept  steadily  at 
his  task  till  death  forced  him  to  rest  *  That  is  the 
spirit,'  said  Dr.  Day.  *  He  is  the  hero  who  knows 


170  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY- 

his  duty,  accepts  it,  and  then  steadily  attends  to  it 
till  God's  time  of  rest  comes.'  " 

"  In  the  spring  of  1860,  becoming  pastor  of  the 
Central  Baptist  church  in  Providence,  I  found  him 
a  near  neighbor,  the  beloved  and  useful  pastor  of 
the  Roger  Williams  church.  We  were  soon 
brought  together  in  various  social  and  Christian  re- 
lations, and  I  learned  to  love  him  warmly  for  his 
personal  qualities,  and  to  honor  him  as  an  able 
and  faithful  minister  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  was  a 
busy  man,  always  at  work,  always  hard  at  work, 
with  duties  crowding  on  him  more  than  sufficient  for 
two  common  men.  With  a  large  parish  demanding 
his  full  strength  for  pulpit  and  pastoral  service ; 
with  an  immense  amount  of  denominational  work, 
in  the  State  and  out  of  it,  exacted  of  him  as  an  ac- 
knowledged leader ;  with  literary  duties  of  various 
sorts  claiming  constant  attention ;  with  public  ser- 
vice forced  on  him  by  fellow  -  citizens  who  appreci- 
ated his  worth,  his  brain  and  heart  were  under  high 
pressure,  and  he  drew  largely  on  the  reserved  force 
of  his  system.  He  always  seemed  to  me  weary  and 
jaded,  but  his  cheerfulness  was  uniform ;  he  never 
declined  duty,  because  overtaxed,  and  his  earnest- 
ness so  lighted  face,  and  animated  form,  and  coined 
electric  words,  that  one  could  detect  no  sign  of 
weariness  when  he  began  to  speak."  * 

Similar  testimony  in  respect  to  his  life  in  another 
sphere,  is  given  by  his  editorial  associate : 


•Bey.  Dr.  Heman  Lincoln. 


MEMORIALS. 

"  He  was  cheerful  about  his  work.  Kind- 
ness and  courtesy  seemed  never  to  forsake  him. 
However  pressing  his  duties,  he  received  all  callers, 
and  endured  all  interruptions,  in  the  same  cheerful 
and  cordial  manner. 

"  He  did  his  work  faithfully.  Everything  that 
was  worthy  his  attention,  or  that  forced  itself  upon 
his  time,  must  be  done  equally  well.  His  work  was 
also  done  with  method.  New  demands  seemed 
never  to  disturb  him.  Whatever  the  requests  from 
lecture  -  committees,  or  from  churches  wanting  ded- 
ication sermons,  or  from  some  blunder  in  the  office 
that  would  double  his  work  for  the  day,  or  whatever 
the  fault  -  finding  or  rebukes  from  critical  and  quer- 
ulous correspondents,  he  seemed  to  accept  all  in  the 
same  quiet,  genial,  uncomplaining  way,  apparently 
anxious,  most  of  all,  to  do  the  best  and  fairest  thing, 
and  thus  to  please  and  help  the  greatest  possible 
number." 

This  is  remarkable  in  one  oppressed  by  nervous 
debility  and  almost  constant  suffering, —  implying 
no  ordinary  self-  control  and  patience.  The  long, 
steady  cherishing  of  a  patient,  firm,  heroic  trust  had 
brought  it  at  length  as  an  abiding  presence  to  his 
spirit,  and  it  shone  out  from  his  life,  speaking  clear- 
ly and  strongly  of  God's  grace  and  the  power  of  re- 
ligion, in  the  calm  face,  and  the  steady  and  cheer- 
ful tone. 

He   was   always    pressed    by   work,   but  almost 


172  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

never  seemed  in  haste,  nor  confused  by  its  magni- 
tude and  diversity.  Amid  the  multitude  of  cares,  he 
forgot  no  appointment,  and  was  invariably  punctual 
in  meeting  all  public  and  private  engagements. 
And  while  he  escaped  the  charge  of  egotism  and 
self -presumption,  "  he  had  confidence  in  his  own 
ability  to  do  almost  anything  so  as  to  suit  himself 
better  than  could  any  one  else."  Others,  aware  of 
his  ability,  preferring  his  careful,  intelligent,  satis- 
factory methods,  made  incessant  demands  upon 
them.  Had  he  been  less  reluctant  to  leave  minor, 
or  even  many  larger  details  to  be  wrought  out  by 
others,  his  contribution  to  the  general  good  would, 
doubtless,  have  been  greater,  and  his  general  effi- 
ciency, even,  been  enlarged.  The  refusal'  of  certain 
minuter  forms  of  service  would  have  left  his  powers 
free  to  take  up  other,  needful  and  fitting  kinds, 
which  absorption  of  time  and  strength  excluded. 

He  loved  the  work  of  the  ministry  and  accepted  it 
with  special  gratitude,  as  the  ministry  of  reconcilia- 
tion. He  gratefully  welcomed  the  stimulus  and  in- 
spiration coming  from  the  great  thoughts,  plans  and 
themes  which  it  supplied,  and  the  arousing  and  viv-  . 
ifying  of  the  heart's  best  impulses  and  affections 
which  came  from  contact  with  it.  In  his  preaching 
he  endeavored  to  impress  the  fact  of  the  universal 
loss  of  sympathy  of  the  human  soul  with  God,  and 


MEMORIALS.  1 73 

to  exalt  the  only  efficacious  way  of  establishing  a 
living  union  with  the  divine  nature  through  Jesus 
Christ.  Apprehending  the  work  of  the  ministry  in 
its  broad  relations,  he  accepted  its  charge  :  "  to  dis- 
arm prejudice,  to  clear  away  darkness,  to  sound  the 
truce  of  God  over  battle-fields  in  the  soul,  to  teach 
trust,  bring  out  repentance,  multiply  the  points 
where  earth  and  heaven  may  meet,  to  take  away 
bitterness  and  plant  sympathy,  to  comfort  mourners 
with  heavenly  hopes,  and  to  surround  death  -  beds 
with  celestial  help  and  light." 

His  ministry  was  no  sinecure,  nor  set  to  discuss 
weak  issues.  His  pulpit  was  no  place  for  sentiment- 
alism,  feeble  platitudes,  or  oratorical  etiquette,  but 
claiming  the  clearest,  manliest,  most  robust  intellect- 
ual and  spiritual  effort. 

"  His  preaching  was  attractive,  for  the  gift  of 
poetic  insight  belonged  to  him,  opening  new  and  un- 
expected ranges  of  truth,  and  apt  and  striking  illus- 
trations, so  that  old  themes  seemed  fresh  and  almost 
novel ;  while  his  language,  even  in  unpremeditated 
speech,  was  alike  copious  and  elegant.  I  always 
felt  that  he  would  have  taken  a  foremost  place  among 
the  popular  preachers  of  the  land,  if  he  could  have 
concentrated  his  rare  powers  on  pulpit  work.  In  his 
sermons  there  were  continual  revelations  of  great 
resources  unused."* 


*Dr.  Heman  Lincoln. 


174  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

"  My  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Day  was  almost  en- 
tirely professional.  But  I  remember  to  have  heard 
him,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Massachusetts  General  As- 
sociation, to  which  he  was  a  delegate  from  the 
Rhode  Island  Free  Baptist  Association,  in  an  elabor- 
ate address,  in  which  it  was  difficult  which  most  to 
admire,  the  beauty  of  his  thought  or  his  diction,  the 
Christian  spirit  of  the  man  or  his  magnetic  power 
over  his  hearers,"* 

The  relation  of  Christianity  to  public  wrongs,  re- 
ceived, as  we  have  seen,  definite,  practical  attention. 
Religion  is  possessed  of  both  soul  and  body,  and  he 
discredited  the  claim  to  it  where  nothing  appeared 
in  life  to  reveal  it ;  when  the  implanting  of  the  di- 
vine germ  was  claimed  as  the  possession  of  a  heart, 
he  was  willing  to  admit  the  claim  only  when  it  blos- 
somed in  the  open  air,  only  when  a  right  life  pro- 
claimed a  right  heart. 

Christianity  came  to  deal  with  evil  forces,  to  con- 
quer the  world  for  Christ,  and  he  believed  that  the 
honorable,  consistent,  effectual  way  of  doing  this 
was  by  no  undecisive  methods,  nor  by  smooth  or  pala- 
table or  abstract  utterances,  but  by  boldly  and  stead- 
ily compelling  a  conflict  and  a  surrender.  In  this 
work,  he  expected  opposition  and  did  not  fear  it. 
He  did  not  stop  to  ask,  either  before  or  after  his 
act,  whether  the  supporters  of  wrong  were  willing 

*Kev.  Dr.  J.  E.  Eankin. 


MEMORIALS.  175 

lo  be  rebuked.  He  spoke  from  convictions  which 
practical  service  had  strengthened  when  he  said : 

"  Respect  for  Christianity  is  dependent  on  its  faith- 
ful utterance.  Temporizing  is  always  contemptible  ; 
and  to  none  does  it  appear  more  so  than  to  those 
whose  worthless  smile  is  sought  to  be  purchased  by 
sparing  their  faults,  and  conniving  at  their  unfaith- 
fulness. Till  the  Gospel  is  regarded  as  the  stern  re- 
buker  of  sin  as  well  as  a  loving  minister  to  peni- 
tence, it  will  be  sneered  at  rather  than  confided  in. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  discriminating  wisely  be- 
tween a  sin  and  a  sinner.  There  is  no  such  thing 
as  sin  aside  from  the  act  of  a  wrong  -  doer.  The 
Gospel  speaks  to  persons,  not  to  abstract  moral 
qualities."* 

His  work  in  the  ministry  was  a  definite  one.  He 
chose  it  and  toiled  in  it  with  no  sympathy  with  any- 
thing that  would  make  it  afford  mere  Sunday  enter- 
tainment, and  be  a  part  of  the  routine  of  life,  but  to 
bring  men  to  a  consciousness  of  their  religious  ne- 
cessities and  responsibilities ;  to  point  out  a  nobler 
life,  to  solve  the  problems  of  the  heart  and  help 
souls  effectively  into  the  highway  of  Christian  ser- 
vice. 

His  sympathy  for  one  form  of  truth  or  one  class 
of  men,  was  not  allowed  to  blind  him  to  the  pres- 
ence and  value  of  other  truths  or  of  other  forces  in 
society.  He  was  not  a  partisan.  His  even  judg- 

*F.  B.  Quarterly,  July,  1858. 


176  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

ment  forbade  his  feelings  an  enlistment  for  any  one 
cause  to  the  exclusion  of  others.  Indifference  to- 
ward a  definite  and  sound  theology,  he  regarded  as 
illogical  and  fraught  with  evil,  the  offspring  of  an 
unhealthy  soul ;  while  he  had  little  patience  with 
mere  stickling  for  the  form  of  words,  and  would  not 
watch  for  something  irregular  or  doubtful  with  a 
keen  scent  for  heresy. 

He  sought  neither  place  nor  fame.  In  his  great- 
est efforts,  self  was  subordinated  to  his  work;  some- 
thing greater  than  the  man  appeared  in  the  presen- 
tation of  themes  which  taxed  his  largest  powers. 
That  modesty  which  marked  his  early  manhood, 
characterized  his  entire  life.  His  chief  study  was 
to  present  the  truth  in  the  most  effective  manner,  to 
bring  men  to  accept  freest  and  most  thoroughly,  the 
issues  which  the  Bible  presented  for  their  adoption. 

Whatever  might  seem  to  be  wanting  in  personal 
presence,  in  oratorical  grace,  in  manner  or  gesture, 
men  felt  that  he  spoke  with  the  deep,  clear  convic- 
tions of  a  genuine  manhood,  —  from  a  heart  in  full 
sympathy  with  the  higher  forms  of  truth.  He  re- 
sorted to  no  unseemly  methods  of  gaining  a  hearing. 
Apologies  were  almost  never  uttered,  however  dis- 
advantageous his  condition  or  place ;  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  say  that  they  were  generally  so  useless 
that  he  despaired  of  finding  them  really  serviceable 


MEMORIALS.  177 

at  any  time.  If  he  arose  from  a  sick  -  bed  to  attend 
a  funeral,  or  went  with  fevered  pulse  and  throbbing 
temples  to  thepulpit,the  fact  was  learned  from  lips  not 
his  own.  His  repugnance  to  the  habit  of  many  preach- 
ers, of  explaining  in  detail  the  circumstances  amid 
which  they  are  called  to  speak,  forbade  his  indulgence 
of  it.  He  could  consent  to  no  such  insult  to  an  au- 
dience, or  wrong  to  himself,  as  to  attempt  to  lower 
their  expectations  that  he  might  be  surer  of  their 
sympathy,  approbation  or  impartiality. 

Although  he  often  said,  when  speaking  of  pastoral 
work,  that  his  ability  to  visit  with  interest  and  profit 
was  very  small,  yet  his  verdict  will  hardly  be  ac- 
cepted in  those  homes  where  he  felt  his  presence 
heartily  welcome.  With  his  modesty  and  natural 
diffidence,  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  appear  advan- 
tageously in  the  presence  of  indifference  or  of  cold- 
ness, but  did  he  find  a  disposition  to  accept  and 
cherish  his  efforts,  he  accepted  it  as  an  encourage- 
ment to  attempt  the  removal  of  any  barriers  pre- 
venting complete  and  helpful  mutual  understanding. 
Such  were  the  distractions  from  this  part  of  min- 
isterial work,  arising  from  other  and  important  de- 
mands for  labor,  that  he  was  much  dissatisfied  with, 
and  often  discouraged  in  it. 

He  was  always  interested  in  the  personal  religious 
experience  of  others,  and  was  eminently  skillful  in 


178  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

drawing  timid,  shrinking  souls  to  speak  of  their  in- 
ner life ;  and  their  doubts  and  struggles  were  met 
with  appreciation  and  sympathy.  But  he  was 
never  intrusive.  If  a  soul  did  not  respond  to  the 
delicate  touch  of  his  Christian  interest,  he  never 
sought  to  force  his  way  into  it. 

One  element  of  great  value  in  his  sermons  was 
that  which  was  imparted  by  this  acquaintance  with 
'Christian  experience.  Personal  contact  with  the 
spiritual  life  of  Christians, —  quickening,  guiding 
them,  enlightening  dark  places,  helping  to  an  ap- 
prehension of  the  true  Christian  life,  was  exceeding- 
ly congenial  and  precious  to  him. 

In  his  pastoral  intercourse,  his  humility  was  con- 
spicuous. "  If  any  one,"  writes  a  lady,  *'  was  ever 
awed  into  timidity  and  silence  by  his  presence,  it 
was  from  their  own  sense  of  his  superiority  and 
:not  from  any  assumption  or  self-assertion  on 
his  part.  When  he  conversed  with  me  on  any  sub- 
ject, I  always  was  made  to  feel, —  and  to  my  sur- 
prise,—  that  he  spoke  as  if  I  knew  as  much  about  it 
as  he,  or  if  not,  that  I  was  capable  of  reaching  his 
standpoint."  In  another  part  of  her  letter,  recalling 
some  impressions  of  him,  she  says  : 

"  When  he  called  at  my  house,  before  he  went  to 
Halifax,  he  spoke  of  sometimes  looking  longingly 
back  to  his  old  sphere,  and  said,  '  If  I  had  not  had 


MEMORIALS.  179 

a  c^ass  in  Sunday  school,  I  don't  know  what  I 
should  have  done.'  And  when  I  playfully  remarked, 
'  Perhaps  you  will  get  recruited  so  that  you  can 
preach  again,'  he  replied,  '  It  would  be  a  very 
grateful  thing  to  me  if  I  could.' " 

He  was  considerate  in  his  calls  at  the  bedside  of 
the  sick;  gentle  in  manner;  low,  but  distinct  in 
voice ;  praying  with  deep  tenderness,  making  the 
sufferer's  place,  as  far  as  might  be,  his  own ;  bear- 
ing him  in  the  strong  arms  of  faith  to  the  merciful 
kindness  of  God,  causing  him  to  feel  that  a  sympa- 
thizing brother  was  craving  relief  from  pain  and 
fear. 

In  hours  of  bereavement,  his  presence  was  spe- 
cially welcome.  No  obtrusiveness  marked  his  com- 
ing to  the  homes  of  grief;  gently  and  soothingly  he 
sought  to  lead  the  stricken  soul  to  lean  upon  the 
arm  of  the  great  Helper.  And  though  we  might 
know  that  no  form  of  sorrow  precisely  like  our  own 
had  ever  fallen  upon  his  life,  we  were  never  permit- 
ted to  feel  that  a  wide  gulf  separated  his  heart  from 
ours.  The  kindling  of  his  sympathies  was  natural 
and  helpful  always ;  he  never  attempted  to  express 
a  concern  and  sympathy  he  did  not  feel.  He  used 
to  say:  "  I  sympathize  with  you  as  deeply  as  my 
nature  and  experiences  will  allow,"  when  others, 
really  possessing  less  feeling,  but  pretending  to  be 


l8o  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

more  deeply  touched,  would  exclaim,  "  I  am  over- 
whelmed by  your  sorrow." 

The  aim  and  spirit  of  his  ministry  is  amply  illus- 
trated by  the  extracts  from  his  sermons  in  these 
pages.  His  ardent  desires  for  spiritual  results  in 
conversion,  were  not  wholly  unsatisfied ;  during  his 
last  pastorate,  one  hundred  and  seventy  -  three  per- 
sons were  admitted  to  the  church  upon  profession 
of  faith. 

In  a  sermon,  he  once  said,  **  Marks,  sitting  on  the 
platform  of  the   Oberlin    church,    with   the  pulses 
dying  to  a  flutter  at  his  wrist,  and  discoursing  with 
dauntless  spirit  and  cogent  logic  of  the  great  veri- 
ties of  the  Gospel,  represents  the  manliness  of  intel- 
lect.    Hutchins,  as  his  eye  is  sightless  for  the  faces 
of  friends,  but  open  to  the  solemnities  of  the  Here- 
after, and  his  ear  deaf  to  earthly  voices  because  full 
of  the  roar  of  the  dark  river,  opening  his  lips  to  say, 
with  a  sweet,  reverent  smile,  '  Trust,  trust,  trust,' 
shows  the  gracious  childhood  of  the  heart."     May 
we  not  say  truthfully  that  George  T.   Day  repre- 
sents in  his  life  both  the  manhood  of  intellect  and 
the  childhood  of  the  heart. 

His  piety  was  deep,  simple  and  constant.  His 
early  Christian  life  convinced  his  fellow  -  students 
of  its  sincerity,  and  whatever  unfavorable  estimate 
they  might  put  upon  the  lives  of  others,  or  upon  the 


MEMORIALS.  l8l 

distinctive  principles  of  religion,  they  believed  him 
to  be  a  Christian.  "  It  was  always,"  says  his 
teacher,  Dr.  Quinby,  "  a  rich  treat  to  hear  him, 
when,  at  our  seminary  prayer  -  meetings  he  bore  tes- 
timony to  the  truth  in  his  peculiar,  quiet  way, 
thoughtfully  and  eloquently."  "  I  do  not  remem- 
ber," says  Dr.  Malcom,  "  when  I  first  met  Dr.  Day. 
But  1  recollect  my  first  impression  of  him.  I  judged, 
him  to  be  a  man  of  quiet  courage,  of  industry,  of 
learning,  and  of  great  piety.  These  impressions, 
were  confirmed  as  years  went  on." 

He  was  a  man  of  prayer.  His  prayers  in  public 
and  in  private  worship  were  humble,  reverent, 
trustful.  He  talked  with  God  as  with  a  loving  Fath- 
er in  heaven,  face  to  face  with  his  love  and  help- 
fulness. Worship,  thanksgiving,  petition,  charac- 
terized his  prayers, —  an  entering  into  intimate 
fellowship  with  divine  promises  and  the  divine 
will.  "  Now,"  said  some  students,  as  they 
paused  one  evening  near  the  half -open  door 
of  the  study  of  the  celebrated  Bunsen,  "  now,  we 
shall  hear  Bunsen  pray."  He  fell  upon  his  knees, 
and  looking  up,  simply  said,  with  inimitable  fervor 
and  tenderness:  "Lord  Jesus,  we  are  upon  the 
same  sweet,  intimate  terms."  When  we  have 
been  in  his  frequent  company  as  a  fellow  -  traveller, 
his  nightly  communion  with  Heaven  often  seemed 


l82  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

like  that.  He  loved  to  pray  in  a  low,  quiet  tone, 
and  found  it  a  trial  to  be  obliged  to  raise  his  voice  in 
prayer  sufficiently  to  be  heard  in  a  large  room.  **  I 
have  never  known,"  says  one  who  was  his  intimate 
friend  for  twenty  -  five  years,  "  any  man  who  seem- 
ed to  live  so  constantly  in  near  and  sweet  commun- 
ion with  God."  He  seemed  to  be  clasping  the 
hand  of  the  Infinite  Guide,  saying  calmly,  trust- 
fully, lovingly : 

"  His  wisdom  ever  waketh, 
His  sight  is  never  dim ; 
He  knows  the  way  he  taketh, 
And  I  shall  walk  with  him." 

The  healthfulness  of  his  spiritual  life  is  attested 
by  the  effect  which  nature  had  in  revealing  to  him 
the  traces  of  God's  presence  and  love.  The  things 
of  beauty  and  of  temporal  comfort  were  accepted 
with  the  feeling,  "  These  are  my  Father's  thoughts 
concerning  me  ;  I  am  poor  and  needy,  yet  the  Lord 
thinketh  upon  me."  From  the  presence  of  Niagara, 
its  picture  of  might  and  its  thunders  of  majesty, 
he  goes  to  the  pulpit  in  Buffalo  to  speak  of  "  Jesus 
Christ,  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever," 
with  a  majesty  of  speech  out -rivaling  that  of  Niag- 
ara, catching  from  the  mists  of  the  cataract  a  type 
of  the  fleeting  nature  of  human  opposition,  and  from 
its  resistless  flow  a  symbol  of  the  might  and  fullness 
of  the  Gospel  of  peace. 


MEMORIALS.  183 

"  Greatness  in  condescension,  is  the  phrase  by 
which  I  would  express  the  chief  characteristic  of 
Dr.  Day,"  writes  one  of  his  most  appreciative 
friends  ;  "  capable  of  performing  deeds  of  the  high- 
est order,  yet  cheerfully  accepting  the  humblest 
task  by  which  he  might  most  honor  God  and  help 
men.  Great  enough  to  awe,  but  meek  enough  to 
attract  and  inspire  the  humblest  of  his  brethren,"  he 
was  at  once  their  leader  and  their  servant.  Yet 
there,  was  nothing  in  him  which  suggested  con- 
sciousness of  condescension.  He  assumed  no  supe- 
riority, claimed  no  exclusive  privileges,  and  asked 
no  favors  which  could  not  readily  be  accorded  to 
others,  nor  which,  had  he  power  and  opportunity, 
he  would  be  unwilling  to  grant. 

A  brief  acquaintance  with  him  begot  esteem, 
which  prolonged  contact  ripened  into  friendship  and 
love.  **  Our  people  of  the  West,  after  a  single 
visit,  loved  him  and  now  bemoan  his  death,  hardly 
less  than  those  who  knew  him  more.  They  will 
feel  his  loss  almos't  as  keenly  as  you  at  the  East, 
although  he  was  one  of  the  few  who  are  loved  as 
they  are  known.  He  was  a  light  which,  though  it 
appeared  first  in  the  East,  was  soon  seen,  and  en- 
joyed with  no  appreciable  diminution  in  the  farthest 
West."  * 

*Kev.  O.  E.  Baker. 


184  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

"  As  a  friend,  he  was  frank,  genial  and  unselfish  ; 
one  whom  it  was  pleasant  to  meet  for  the  inspiration 
coming  from  generous  impulses,  and  high  ideals  of 
life.  He  was  wise  in  counsel,  unswerving  in  prin- 
ciple, and  charitable  in  judgments  of  men.  We 
never  met  him  without  feeling  that  he  lived  in  a 
pure  atmosphere,  and  had  breathed  in  much  of  the 
spirit  of  his  Master."  * 

His  disposition  was  conciliatory,  and  by  it  he  was 
enabled  in  delicate  circumstances  to  disarm  criti- 
cism and  opposition,  and  allay  suspicion.  He  was  a 
lover  of  peace  and  sought  to  promote  it.  He  exhibit- 
ed no  tendency  to  presume  upon  friendship,  and  was 
often  fearful  lest  his  friends  should  expect  too  much 
and  suffer  from  disappointment  in  him.  Having 
made  promises  in  business,  or  in  the  name  of  friend- 
ship, he  felt  bound  to  a  scrupulous  fulfillment  of 
them,  and  the  manner  in  which  he  often  redeemed 
these  promises  showed  rare  fidelity. 

His  kind  -  heartedness  was  always  a  marked  trait. 
He  was  specially  sensitive  to  the  exhibition  of  suf- 
fering,—  his  sympathies  sometimes  conquering  his 
endurance.  Once,  during  the  recitation  of  the  class 
studying  physiology,  at  Smithville,  the  teacher  was 
explaining  the  method  of  overcoming  the  contrac- 
tion of  the  muscles  when  setting  a  hip  joint,  and 


•Rev.  Dr.  Lincoln. 


MEMORIALS.  185 

happening  to  cast  his  eye  to  the  place  where 
George  sat,  observed  him  falling  over  in  a  fainting 
fit  produced  by  the  delineation. 

He  read  men  easily,  and  his  estimate  of  their 
character  and  promise  was  usually  charitable,  hope- 
ful and  correct.  His  reverence  for  real  character, 
his  regard  for  the  welfare  and  usefulness  of  others, 
and  his  fear  of  doing  an  injustice,  forbade  a  careless, 
unappreciative  verdict  over  a  life,  or  work.  It  was 
as  natural  for  him  to  study  faces  as  for  a  child  its 
picture  -  book.  The  impression  gained  of  him  by 
those  who  were  in  his  presence  for  any  length  of  time, 
was  that  of  a  man  of  self-restraint  and  poise  of 
nature,  and  one  who  was  anxious  to  fairly  and  suit- 
ably understand  his  fellows. 

Men  of  open  heart  and  ingenuous  purpose,  found 
him  frank,  confiding  and  charitable ;  concealment 
of  real  designs  under  specious  words,  and  vacilla- 
tion, and  cowardice,  met  unsparing  rebuke  and 
searching  exposure.  His  power  of  discernment,  of 
penetrating  clearly  and  readily  to  the  heart  of 
scheme  or  proposition,  made  his  opinion  and  advice 
of  substantial  value. 

Weakness  seeking  strength  and  encouragement, 
at  whatever  time  or  place,  found  him  ready  to  help 
and  soothe  ;  weakness  wearing  the  mask  of  willful- 
ness, or  claiming  the  homage  accorded  only  to 


1 86  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

strength,  excited  his  pitying  contempt.  Severe  he 
might  sometimes  be,  in  his  characterization  of unap- 
proved  plans  and  measures,  but  he  would  not  stoop 
to  personalities,  nor  reply  in  the  tone  of  vitupera- 
tion. 

In  the  use  of  sarcasm,  he  was  keen  and  felicitous. 
With  the  training  of  certain  schools  of  public  life  he 
would  easily  have  become  a  master  in  invective  ;  but 
his-  heart  of  kindness  and  Christian  love,  forbade 
utterances  which  his  rhetorical  knowledge  of  the 
power  of  words  would  have  admitted.  With  no  de- 
sire to  unfairly  silence  or  wound  an  opponent,  yet 
oftener,  doubtless,  than  he  was  aware,  shafts  of 
sarcasm  found  a  mark.  But  no  one  could  be  more 
sorrowful  than  he,  over  any  needless,  unintentional 
wound  inflicted  by  himself,  nor  lament  it  more 
sincerely.  His  coolness  and  self-  control  were  re- 
markable amid  opposition,  and  in  the  discussion  of 
great,  exciting  questions  which  stirred  his  whole 
nature  profoundly. 

While  he  could  not  consent  to  worship  at  the 
shrine  of  another's  popularity,  power,  or  genius,  he 
was  intolerant  of  sycophancy  and  adulation  in 
others,  and  especially  if  exercised  toward  himself. 
He  loved  praise  and  was  sensitive  to  the  absence  of 
it,  but  the  praise  must  be  manly  and  appreciative, 
or  it  gave  him  no  pleasure;  blind  flattery  he  de- 


MEMORIALS.  187 

spised,  but  his  eye  would  kindle  and  his  voice  be- 
come tender  in  tone,  answering  expressions  imply- 
ing obligation  for  some  service  he  had  rendered. 
He  was  specially  grateful  when  a  hearer  pressed 
his  hand  and  said, '-You  can  not  tell  how  much  your 
sermon  helped  me  ;" — the  words  :  "  You  gave  us  "a 
grand  sermon,"  fell  upon  an  unsatisfied  heart. 

His  high  regard  for  truthfulness  in  all  the  mani- 
festations of  a  soul,  forbade  duplicity,  and  however 
eagerly  he  sought  an  end,  he  would  not  resort  to 
specious  arguments  or  doubtful  acts  to  win  it.  We 
have  spoken  of  his  love  of  commendation ;  he  was 
also  sensitive  to  censure,  but  would  not  violate  his 
convictions  nor  change  his  purposes  to  secure  the 
pleasure  of  the  one  or  to  avoid  the  pain  of  the  other. 
He  chose  to  suffer  wrong  rather  than  to  unfairly  re- 
sent it ;  to  endure  injury  with  patience  rather  than 
meditate  or  seek  revenge.  That  he  should  have  no 
enemies  was  impossible ;  that  he  should  meet  no  op- 
position could  not  be  expected ;  yet  he  endeavored 
to  meet  the  experiences  which  enmity  or  opposition 
might  bring,  with  a  manly,  Christian  spirit. 

His  acquirements  in  knowledge  were  substantial 
and  serviceable.  A  close,  critical  student,  his 
mental  tastes  and  habits  forbidding  him  to  be  content 
with  undefined,  unsystematized  knowledge,  he 
would  meditate  upon  a  truth  and  scrutinize  a  state- 


1 88  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

ment  until  his  comprehension  became  clear  and 
exact.  He  was  prepared  to  "  give  a  reason  of  the 
hope  "  in  his  heart,  and  of  the  opinion  in  his  mind. 
He  knew  what  and  "whom"  he  believed,  and  the 
distinctive  steps  by  which  he  had  arrived  at  a  con- 
clusion were  as  clearly  present  to  him  as  the  con- 
clusion itself.  If  asked  to  define  his  position  on 
any  question,  he  could  do  it  logically,  clearly, 
promptly.  Such  was  the  exactness  of  his  mind,  so 
systematic  its  arrangement  of  facts,  so  broad  and 
complete  his  power  of  grouping  incidents  and  con- 
clusions, so  retentive  his  memory,  that  he  was  able 
to  marshal  his  knowledge  and  powers  for  almost  in- 
stantaneous service  even  on  the  most  important  oc- 
casions. • 

Not  only  did  he  grasp  a  truth  with  readiness  and 
clearness,  but  he  was  highly  capable  of  helping 
others  to  a  like  result.  He  excelled  as  a  teacher, 
and  his  pulpit  ministrations  were  successful  in 
clearing  away  doubts,  perplexities,  and  obscurities. 
His  concentration  was  large,  and  he  was  sometimes 
led  to  dwell  upon  a  point  in  address  or  sermon,  at 
great  and  tedious  length  ;  fearfulness  lest  he  be  not 
understood  caused  him,  now  and  then,  to  explain  a 
proposition  with  needless  detail.  If  we  adopt  the 
highest,  truest  definition  of  eloquence,  that  "it  is 
the  breath  and  force  of  a  man's  personality,  —  the 


MEMORIALS.  189 

whole  being  of  a  man  speaking,"  he  was  eloquent. 
If  a  true  rhetoric  is  signalized  by  "  the  communica- 
tion of  thought  by  language,  with  a  view  to  per- 
suade," he  was  a  rhetorician.  Wit,  humor,  sublim- 
ity, pathos,  were  at  his  command.  His  style  was 
not  a  little  marked  by  redundancy,  especially  in  the 
use  of  adjectives,  and  was  defective  through  lack  of 
terseness  and  condensation.  There  was  no  want  of 
perspicuity,  arising  from  defective  expression,  or 
imperfect  arrangement,  or  from  confusion  in  the  use 
of  words.  Though  his  sentences  were  often  of 
considerable  length,  they  were  clear  and  intelligible. 
His  language  was  unambiguous,  elegant  and  ap- 
propriate, though  not  unencumbered  by  long  words 
and  expressions  not  consistent  with  Saxon  vigor. 

The  rhetorical  faults  of  his  style  were  scarcely 
noticed,  —  indeed,  almost  wholly  escaped  detection, 
—  by  the  hearer,  amid  the  attractiveness,  excellen- 
ces and  power  of  his  speech.  He  endeavored,  late 
in  life,  to  secure  for  his  style  certain  qualities  which 
a  more  exact  early  culture  would  have  successfully 
imparted.  The  study  of  the  Anglo  -  Saxon  element 
in  our  language  was  taken  up  with  much  enthusi- 
asm, and  prosecuted  as  extensively  as  attention  to 
his  ordinary  tasks  would  admit.  It  gave  rise  to  one 
of  his  finest  and  most  popular  lectures. 

Expressing  regret  that  this  study  could  not  have 


10,0  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

been  pursued  in  early  life,  and  that  its  fields  were 
even  then  practically  shut  away  from  him,  he  writes 
to  a  friend : 

"I  like  very  much  your  proposal  to  run  through 
English  literature  in  the  way  you  suggest.  It  would 
be  interesting  and  profitable  to  carry  along  the  his- 
tory of  English  life,  in  its  social,  civil,  ecclesiastical, 
and  educational  aspects,  -pari  ^>assu.  The  two 
things  would  reflect  light  on  each  other ;  and  the 
English  character,  and  the  English  nation,  would 
then  be  fully  before  you.  It  would  put  you  very 
much  into  such  a  relation  in  respect  to  that  people, 
as  Hugh  Miller's  autobiography  makes  you 
sustain  toward  himself,  as  an  individual  subject. 
I  would  give  something  if  I  had  done  that,  or  could 
do  it  now." 

His  mind  was  equally  capable  in  synthesis  and  in 
analysis.  If  he  was  happy  in  his  work  of  demoli- 
tion, he  was  not  less  so  in  that  of  construction.  If 
he  displaced  a  system,  he  was  not  satisfied  until  he 
could  summon  another  to  take  its  place.  His  ability 
to  perceive  a  fallacy  was  accompanied  with  the 
power  to  expose  it  efficiently.  "Dr.  Day,"  says 
Dr.  Malcom,  "  reminds  me  of  our  old  teacher,  Dr. 
Wayland,  in  the  solidity  and  honesty  of  his  mental 
and  spiritual  character." 

"Years  after  we  parted  in  Providence,  we  came 
together  again  as  critics,  sitting  in  judgment  on 
manuscripts  and  books.  I  learned  to  honor  anew 


MEMORIALS. 

his  fine  insight  and  rare  discretion.  If  the  verdict 
of  judges  of  high  authority  can  be  accepted,  that 
the  largeness  of  a  man's  nature  is  tested  by  the 
breadth  of  his  sympathies  with  authors,  Dr.  Day 
had  a  comprehensive  soul,  for  he  detected,  as  by 
intuition,  any  mark  of  genius  in  an  author,  or 
superior  excellence  of  whatever  kind.  His  judg- 
ment was  rarely  at  fault.  He  recognized  the  good 
qualities  of  authors,  and  he  knew  equally  well  the 
tastes  of  readers."* 

He  never  seemed  at  loss,  on  festive  occasions,  for 
the  right  and  happy  word  to  secure  or  to  promote , 
social  enjoyment.  He  adapted  himself  happily  to 
the  capacities  of  childhood,  and  was  successful  in 
eliciting  and  keeping  its  interest,  when  addressing 
it  in  Sunday  school,  or  at  some  picnic  or  excursion. 
Some  of  his  Commencement  dinner  speeches  were 
fine  examples  of  brilliant  repartee,  and  of  scholarly 
eloquence. 

As  a  fellow  -  traveller,  he  was  entertaining  and 
buoyant,  full  of  zest  and  curiosity,  entering  bravely 
and  cheerfully  into  the  more  difficult  experiences  of 
a  tourist ;  never  obtrusive  in  remark  or  manner,  nor 
unpleasantly  tenacious  of  his  own  preferences.  He 
entered  with  full  sympathy  and  hearty  abandon  into 
the  sports  of  the  forest,  the  sea -side,  and  the  brook, 
taking  up  rod  and  gun  with  almost  boyish  enthusiasm. 

*Bev.  Dr.  Heman  Lincoln. 


GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

In  his  social  visits  at  the  homes  of  intimate 
friends,  he  was  warmly  welcomed  by  parents  and 
children,  by  old  and  young,  alike.  In  private  and 
in  public  social  gatherings,  his  presence  was  hailed 
with  pleasure. 

His  mind,  naturally  fine  and  discriminating  in  its 
tastes,  was  improved  and  enriched  by  foreign  travel. 
His  letters  as  a  foreign  correspondent  of  the  Morn- 
ing Star,  Providence  Press,  and  Watchman  &  Re- 
flector, were  full  of  vivacity,  abounding  in  artistic 
pictures  of  life  and  scenes  in  Europe  and  the  East, 
and  secured  great  popularity  with  the  readers  of 
those  journals. 

His  love  of  the  grand  and  beautiful  in  nature,  art 
and  life  was  intense  and  enthusiastic.  The  two 
poetical  effusions  given  in  this  volume  fairly  exhibit 
his  poetic  appreciation,  imagination  and  skill.  He 
was  a  lover  of  music,  and  often  regaled  himself  in 
hours  of  weariness,  at  the  organ  or  the  piano ;  he 
was  acquainted,  to  some  extent,  with  the  art  of 
musical  composition;  the  tunes  on  pages  168,  187, 
and  202,  of  "The  Choralist,"  are  among  his  pro- 
ductions. 

In  those  things  which  are  indices  of  true  bravery, 
he  gave  no  sign  of  cowardice.  When  his  critical 
illness  at  the  close  of  Conference,  and  the  fears  of 
friends  lest  it  should  terminate  fatally  on  the  spot, 


MEMORIALS.  1 93 

were  mentioned  to  him,  he  said  :  "  I  do  not  think  I 
should  have  been  afraid ;  the  God  of  peace  and 
safety  is  never  far  off  at  such  moments."  By  his 
bravery  amid  sickness  and  pain,  and  in  the  pres- 
ence of  threatening  wrongs,  by  his  fidelity  to  prin- 
ciple and  truth,  by  his  unceasing,  high  industry,  his 
life  luminously  exhibits  not  only  the  strength  which 
endures,  but  the*  strength  which  suffers,  and  teaches 
both  the  duty  of  action  and  the  equally  sacred  duty 
of  suffering. 

"There  is  seldom  a  line  of  glory  written  upon  the 
earth's  face,  but  a  line  of  suffering  runs  parallel 
with  it ;  and  they  that  read  the  lustrous  syllables  of 
the  one,  and  stoop  not  to  decipher  the  spotted  and 
worn  inscription  of  the  other,  get  the  least  half  of 
the  lesson  earth  has  to  give." 

There  was  one,  a  dearly  -  beloved  and  loving 
friend  whom  he  had  welcomed  to  church  -  fellow- 
ship and  whose  life  he  had  blessed,  who  bent  over 
him,  on  the  last  night  of  his  life,  and  thanked  him 
for  his  sweet,  valuable  ministries ;  in  so  doing  he 
represented  thousands  of  grateful  hearts  who  would 
have  deemed  it  a  precious  privilege  to  do  even 
that. 

His  life's  history  will  read  tamely  beside  the  excit- 
ing stories  of  battle  -  heroes ;  nor  can  it  attract  like 
that  of  men  great  in  statesmanship,  for  it  has  few 


194  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

striking  passages  ;  but  its  spirit  can  not  be  compre- 
hended without  fascinating  an  earnest  Christian  heart 
by  its  exhibitions  of  the  power  of  a  quiet,  helpful, 
devoted,  single  life.  It  can  not  be  understood,  and 
yet  make  no  deep  impression  by  its  persistence  in 
Christian  toil. 

They  who  study  this  ended  life  will  learn  the 
needed  lesson  of  "  the  hidden  power  of  faith,  the 
•calm  might  that  lies  in  communion  with  the  truth, 
the  nobleness,  and  beauty,  and  reward  of  a  high 
:self- sacrifice.  They  will  learn  from  it  to  keep 
'brave  hearts  when  clouds  settle  on  their  life,  to 
trust  that  God  will  do  his  work,  though  not  perhaps 
till  their  day  is  past ;  they  will  learn  to  hold  stead- 
fast by  their  work,  though  pain  and  sorrow  are 
knocking  loudly  at  the  door;  "*  they  will  learn  how 
•comfort,  courage,  peace,  strength,  and  confidence 
may  flow  from  "  God  as  a  helper." 

"  Now,"  said  Beza,  when  he  heard  of  Calvin's 
death,  "now  that  Calvin  is  dead,  life  will  be  less 
sweet,  and  death  less  bitter."  Our  loss  might 
"  seem  irreparable,  unless  God  remained  with 
infinite  gifts  and  graces  to  bestow  according  to  the 
needs  of  his  people." 

"  His  faith  and  works,  like  streams  that  intermingle, 

In  the  same  channel  ran  ; 
*From  a  tribute  to  Kev.  F.  W.  Robertson. 


MEMORIALS.  195 

The  crystal  clearness  of  an  eye  kept  single 
Shamed  all  the  frauds  of  man. 

"  The  very  gentlest  of  all  human  natures 

He  joined  to  courage  strong, 
And  love,  outreaching  unto  all  God's  creatures, 
With  sturdy  hate  of  wrong. 

*'  Tender  as  woman ;  manliness  and  meekness 

In  him  were  so  allied 

That  they  who  judged  him  by  his  strength  or  weakness, 
Saw  but  a  single  side. 

"  And  now  he  rests ;  his  greatness  and  his  sweetness 

No  more  shall  seem  at  strife, 
And  death  has  moulded  into  calm  completeness 
The  statue  of  his  life." 


VI. 
RECREATION 

IN 
EUROPE    AND    THE    EAST. 

Presenting  in  this  chapter  extracts  from  his  volu- 
minous foreign  correspondence,  we  have  endeav- 
ored to  transfer  to  the  more  permanent  form  of 
these  pages,  those  which  were  esteemed  by  the  read- 
ers of  the  journals  to  which  they  were  addressed, 
as  among  the  choicest,  most  valuable  portions. 


i. 

SABBATH  ON  THE  SEA,  June  28,  1857. 
The  Sabbaths  on  shipboard  are  calculated  to 
make  one  feel  strongly  the  loss  of  the  religious  op- 
portunities on  shore.  The  religious  spirit  on  our 
steamer  was  not  apparently  very  strong  nor  very 
general,  and  yet  there  was  enough  of  outward  def- 
erence to  remind  one  that  there  was  a  consciousness 


IN   EUROPE   AND   THE    EAST.  10,7 

of  having  entered  upon  holy  time.  The  conversa- 
tion was  rather  less  boisterous,  and  reading  was 
more  general ;  the  music  was  mostly  hushed,  tracts 
obtained  in  New  York  were  distributed  by  the  stew- 
ard over  the  saloon  tables,  and  the  English  Episco- 
pal service  was  read  by  the  captain,  and  responded 
to  by  a  portion  of  the  crew  and  such  of  the  passen- 
gers as  chose  to  join.  It  was  poorly  read  and  not 
very  devoutly  responded  to ;  still  it  is  something  of 
a  relief  and  a  blessing  tp  have  even  this. 

During  it,  and  especially  after  it  was  over,  my 
heart  turned  homeward,  heavenward  and  inward, 
and,  more  than  is  its  wont,  felt  how  great  a  blessing 
is  a  quiet  Sabbath  and  sacred  worship  among 
friends  in  the  sanctuary.  I  sat  down  with  note  book 
and  pencil,  and  scribbled  the  following  lines,  which 
contain  a  transcript  of  my  experiences  : 

Bright  shines  the  sun,  fresh   breezes   blow,  the  heavens  are 

azure  blue, 
Save  where  the  dappled  clouds  bring  out  their  changing    shapes 

to  view ; 

All  round  are  gathered  human  forms  and  faces  lit  with  glee,  — 
But  still  the  heart  a  strangeness  owns,  — 'tis  Sabbath  on  the 

Sea. 

Far  as  the  eager  eye  can  reach,  the  crested  billows  rise, 
Till  on  the  distant  verge  they  seem  to  kiss  the  bending  skies ; 
No  sail,  like  sea-  bird's  wing,  appears  to  speak  of  life  to  me, 
Through  all  this  livelong,  holy  day,  this  Sabbath  on  the  Sea. 

The  deck  anon  with  laughter  rings  where   men  converse  in 
crowds, 


198  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

And  there  the  winds  make  sad  response  while  whistling  through 

the  shrouds ; 
The  canvas  swells,  the  masts  bend  down,  light  o'er  the  deep  we 

flee, 
We  stay  not  for  an  hour  although  'tis  Sabbath  on  the  Sea. 

Far,  far  away  the  pleasant  scenes  where  Sabbath  days  were 

spent, 
And  far  the  cherished  friends  with  whom  up  to  God's  house  I 

went 

There  gather  they  again  to  -  day,  and  lift  a  prayer  for  me, — 
Blest  thought !   the  day  is  holier  now,  this  Sabbath  on  the  Sea. 

God's  presence  fills  creation  all, — He  bendeth  everywhere, 

To  deck  meek  hearts  with  robes  of  joy,  to  answer  each  true 

prayer ; 

His  promise  waits  to  be  fulfilled  where  'er  his  people  be, — 
Pure  souls  find  Sabbaths  everywhere,  sweet  Sabbaths  on  the 

Sea. 

To  eyes  anointed  from  on  high,  his  traces  mark  the  deep, 

The  winds  are  marshalled  by  his  word,  when  he  commands  they 

sleep ; 

And  he  who  trod  the  waves  of  old  on  storm  -  vexed  Galilee, 
Can  give  the  troubled  heart  repose  —  a  Sabbath  on  the  Sea. 

Bend  down,  0   Great  and  Glorious  One,  above  thy  pleading 

child, 
And  speak  thy  "  Peace,  Be  still,"  above  each  ocean  tempest 

wild. 

May  every  weakness,  every  danger  draw  me  nearer  Thee, 
So  that  my  soul  find  constant  rest,  a  Sabbath  on  the  Sea. 

Be  Thou  the  Guardian  of  my  life,  my  wanderings  all  restore, 
And  bring  me  to  the  home  I  love,  my  yearned  -  for  home  once 
more; 


IN   EUROPE   AND   THE   EAST. 

Spread  thy  broad  wing  above  the  spot  where  my  heart's  treas- 
ures be, — 

That  pledge  of  thine  will  crown  this  day,  this  Sabbath  on  the 
Sea, 

II. 

VALLEY  OF  CHAMOUNIX,     > 
Switzerland,  Aug.  15,  1857.  $ 

I  commence  a  letter  to  -  day  at  this  center  and 
culminating  point  of  Alpine  grandeur. 

The  last  week  is  the  seventh  from  home,  and  in 
no  merely  fanciful  sense  it  has  been  the  Sabbath 
week.  Our  movements  have  been  mostly  slow, 
aiding  calmness  and  reflection ;  we  have  had  less 
of  the  bustle  of  life  as  it  appears  in  the  haste  and 
hum  of  cities, — among  the  mountains  there  has 
often  been  a  stillness  it  seemed  irreverent  to  break ; 
only  during  two  days  have  we  been  on  the  public 
thoroughfares,  for  nearly  two  weeks ;  influences 
that  soothe  and  elevate  have  been  unusually  abun- 
dant, and  those  which  harass  and  inthrall  have 
consciously  touched  us  only  at  long  intervals ;  and 
the  spirit,  laying  off  anxieties  and  cares,  has  been 
kept  full  of  sweet  and  glorious  emotions.  Almost 
every  morning  I  have  awaked  to  find  a  hymn  in  my 
heart  which  would  sing  itself  in  melodious  snatches 
all  through  the  hours  of  sunlight,  and  die  down  at 
night  into  a  cadence  that  made  sleep  come  as  a  direct 
benediction  from  heaven.  Prayers  seem  to  go  up 
easily  here  as  if  the  mountains  were  altars,  and  the 
clouds  on  their  tops  were  incense,  drawing  orisons 
after  them  in  the  ethereal  currents  which  their,  as- 


2OO  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

cent  creates.  "  God  is  great"  needs  not  to  be  pro- 
claimed here  by  human  lips  as  from  the  minarets  of 
the  East ;  the  solemn  silence  of  these  vast  mount- 
ains, the  unseen  but  steady  flow  of  these  glacier 
streams,  the  tremendous  speech  wherewith  these 
awful  clouds  talk  to  each  other  amid  the  darkness 
and  the  tempest, —  all  these  are  heralds  of  Jehovah's 
greatness  it  were  stupidity  not  to  recognize,  and 
mockery  to  attempt  to  rival.  If  it  be  the  office  of 
the  Sabbath  to  rebuke  worldly  pride  and  ambition, 
to  make  waywardness  seem  a  presumption  and  a 
sin,  to  bring  back  to  the  soul  the  half  lost  conscious- 
ness of  God's  nearness  and  greatness,  to  stimulate 
faith  and  make  it  more  child  -  like,  to  render  prayer 
an  irrepressible  yearning  or  a  grateful  outgoing 
toward  the  infinite  Father  and  Saviour,  to  throw  a 
sacred  calm  over  thought,  to  give  such  a  movement 
to  sensibility  that  all  its  currents  flow  as  to  the 
march  of  anthemnal  music,  to  brighten  the  future 
with  hues  borrowed  from  immortality,  to  stir  pity 
for  the  unfortunate  and  erring  and  crushed  and  be- 
sotted, and  make  the  coming  of  God's  kingdom  on 
earth  the  heaviest  burden  our  wishes  carry,  and  the 
goal  toward  which  our  highest  endeavors  set  them- 
selves to  struggle, —  if  this  be  the  ministry  of  the 
Sabbath,  then  this  mountain  scenery  has  brought 
me  at  least  the  spirit  of  a  long  and  blessed  holy  day. 
Be  it  so  that  its  spirit  goes  into  the  work -day  life 
of  many  a  future  year. 

My  tour  and  tarry  in  Switzerland  is  the  crowning 
feature  of  my  journey.     Its  bracing  airs  are  a  splen- 


IN   EUROPE   AND    THE    EAST.  2OI 

did  tonic  for  an  enfeebled  system,  and  the  influ- 
ences, with  which  it  surrounds  and  fills  the  spirit,  are 
like  a  sea  of  blessing,  bearing  affection  heavenward 
to  the  solemn  music  of  its  sparkling  waves.  Wisely 
enough  I  had  judged  that  the  Alps  could  not  be 
seen  and  felt  in  a  day,  any  more  than  Niagara  can 
be  comprehended  at  a  glance.  I  had  planned  to 
tarry,  that  the  ideas  and  conceptions  and  emotions 
which  are  born  of  these  mountains  might  have  time 
to  grow  toward  maturity  within  me.  And  so  I  have 
done,  and  such  has  been  the  effect.  The  grandeur 
has  grown  on  me  daily.  These  mountain  tops, 
where  storms  and  thunderbolts  are  cradled,  seem  to 
stretch  loftier  upward  each  time  of  climbing  to  them 
with  the  eye.  The  photograph  of  their  forms 
grows  more  and  more  distinct  within,  their  lessons 
come  with  less  wooing,  and  find  a  tarrying  -  place 
with  less  difficulty. 

in. 

PARIS,  FRANCE,  Dec.  20,  1865. 
I  am  every  now  and  then  reminded  by  the  Pro- 
fessor that  it  is  time  for  me  to  get  off  my  first  letter 
to  Dover.  I  take  the  hint  and  act  on  it ;  though  I 
must  begin  by  disavowing  what  he  imputed  to  me  a 
week  ago.  His  comparison  of  our  heads  might  nat- 
urally enough  imply  that  I  was  a  sort  of  "  Hard 
Shell  Baptist."  That  is  not  true.  I  never  entered 
into  fellowship  with  that  fraternity,  and  since  they 
have  become  secessionists  I  have  had  no  inclination 
to  join  in  sweeping  their  "  harp  of  a  thousand 
strings."  And  his  intimation  that  I  was  to  send 


2O2  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

solid  food  was  calculated  to  awaken  fears  that  I 
should  induce  mental  dyspepsia  in  the  Star  readers. 
Let  nobody  be  fearful.  The  bill  of  fare  has  no  item 
at  which  even  an  invalid  need  be  'alarmed.  Even 
if  these  letters  should  possess  the  variety  of  a  curry 
or  a  chowder,  they  will  prove  to  be  as  digestible  as 
soup. 

We  heard  Mr.  Spurgeon  in  the  morning  of  our 
first  day  in  London,  for  it  was  Sunday.  To  look 
upon  the  vast  audience  gathered  within  his  Taber- 
nacle, and  hear  the  swelling  harmony  of  thousands 
of  voices  bearing  up  the  hymns  to  heaven,  is  well 
worth  going  two  miles,  even  if  one  must  carry  a 
jaded  body  and  an  unwilling  spirit.  Six  thousand 
eager,  expectant  faces  would  give  inspiration  to  any 
preacher  unless  there  was  an  excess  of  fear  or  lack 
of  soul ;  but  it  must  be  a  powerful  moral  magnet 
that  draws  and  holds  such  a  mass  of  human  mate- 
rial. And  with  all  his  excesses  on  one  side  and  his 
defects  on  the  other,  Mr.  Spurgeon  embodies  and 
exercises  power.  He  is  as  intensely  Calvinistic  as 
ever  —  scarcely  preaching  a  sermon  without  putting 
in  the  very  pith  and  sharpness  of  the  "Five  Points," 
and  yet,  having  a  will  of  iron,  and  an  active,  rest- 
less, practical  working  energy,  such  as  few  other 
men  possess,  he  rarely  ends  a  sermon  without  vir- 
tually driving  the  dogmas  unceremoniously  out  of 
doors.  He  is  no  philosopher,  no  logician,  no 
master  of  analysis,  no  trustworthy  critic.  His  dis- 
course has  a  thread,  but  it  lacks  definite  boundaries. 
In  the  development  of  a  thought  or  the  enforcement 


IN   EUROPE   AND   THE   EAST.  203 

of  a  duty,  he  shows  the  ability  of  a  master ;  but  in 
the  treatment  of  a  subject,  he  is  seldom  comprehen- 
sive or  satisfactory.  The  range  of  his  thinking  is 
not  broad,  but  the  power  with  which  he  drives  home 
a  single  point  is  wonderful.  His  congregation  is 
his  empire,  and  the  enterprises  immediately  con- 
nected with  it  are  to  him  the  interests  which  fill  the 
inner  circle  of  the  world.  But  into  this  circle  he 
puts  a  planning,  organized,  resolute,  persistent 
force,  which  shows  astonishing  results.  He 
preaches  with  great  energy,  though  his  self -poise  is 
complete.  He  has  no  pulpit, — only  a  large  plat- 
form, with  a  railing  in  front,  and  a  simple  table  by 
his  side  on  which  lie  his  Bible  and  hymn  -  book. 
He  uses  no  manuscript,  and  his  marvelous  mastery 
of  pure,  idiomatic,  forcible  English,  enables  him  to 
speak  right  on,  without  waiting  for  a  word,  or 
using  a  single  loosely  -  constructed  sentence. 

Beecher  is  more  original,  Phillips  more  classical, 
Curtis  has  more  literar}^  finish,  Bushnell  exceeds 
him  in  strength,  as  other  men  surpass  him  in  other 
respects,  but  in  forcible  simplicity  and  picturesque- 
ness  of  expression,  such  as  forbids  obscurity  and 
goes  straight  to  the  mark,  he  is  a  marvel  and  a 
model  in  extemporaneous  speaking.  He  does  not 
scorn  ornament,  but  employs  it ;  yet  he  never  seems 
to  be  reaching  after  it,  nor  pushing  it  into  notice. 
There  is  humor  in  him,  and  he  sometimes  lets  it 
have  its  way ;  wit,  also,  and  he  now  and  then  shoots 
one  of  its  winged  arrows.  Poetic  imagery  and 
suggestive  metaphors  now  and  then  leap  forth  and 


204  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

light  up  the  course  of  his  thought,  as  sun  -  bursts 
glorify  the  road  of  the  traveller — as  when,  last 
Sunday,  he  said,  that  "  though  the  tongue  halts  and 
stammers  when  it  would  speak  of  our  joy  in  God, 
the  loving  heart  sends  out  whole  troops  of  sonnets  ;" 
or  as  when,  speaking  of  the  early  death  of  spirit- 
ually-minded children,  he  said  that  "they  were 
fragrant  rose  -  buds,  opening  in  the  gardens  of  the 
world,  which  God  hastened  to  pluck  that  he  might 
wear  them  evermore  in  his  bosom." 

Confining  himself  mostly  to  the  central  and  vital 
truths  of  the  gospel,  he  unfolds  the  guilt  and 
danger  of  unsaved  souls,  and  paints  the  privileges 
of  the  justified  children  of  the  kingdom,  in  a  light 
so  vivid  and  in  words  so  full  of  might  and  unction 
that  the  meaning  and  the  method  of  salvation  rise  on 
the  vision  of  his  audience  like  the  sun  out  of  dark- 
ness. And  so,  with  a  soul  heaving  with  life,  a  will 
brimful  of  energy,  and  a  faith  in  himself  and  his 
message,  which  his  experience  and  his  successes 
have  combined  to  'make  powerful,  he  sends  his 
clear,  full,  ringing  voice  through  the  room,  sweep- 
ing and  stirring  the  chords  of  sensibility  in  each 
soul  as  the  summer  wind  stirs  the  leaves  of  the 
forest.  A  calm  and  critical  hearer  may  go  away 
dissatisfied  with  the  sermon,  but  in  his  heart  he 
must  confess  that  he  has  stood  before  a  preacher 
who  is  a  master  of  assemblies.  Only  a  man  of 
weak  will,  defective  individuality,  and  unschooled 
taste,  would  wish  to  be  his  copyist  or  set  him  up  as  a 
model ;  but  it  would  be  wisdom  for  clearer  -  headed 


IN    EUROPE    AND    THE    EAST.  2O5 

men    to  take  lessons  from  his  methods  of  speech, 
and  a  virtue  to  seek  after  his  power. 

We  listened  for  a  little  time  to  the  Liturgy,  the 
preaching  and  the  music,  as  the  twilight  was 
gathering  over  the  worshippers  and  the  tombs  in 
Westminster  Abbey — the  music  so  wonderful  in  its 
skill  and  so  peculiar  in  its  effects  that  it  seemed  to 
make  the  only  abiding  impression  upon  the 
audience ;  and  then  we  sat  down  quietly  in  Dr. 
Burns's  chapel  and  listened  to  a  sermon  far  more  in- 
structive than  Spurgeon's,  far  more  quickening  than 
that  which  the  dignitary  of  the  Establishment  had 
given  us  among  the  cloisters  of  the  Cathedral.  Dr. 
Burns  still  keeps  his  vivacity,  loses  none  of  his 
mental  vigor  ;  courtesies  come  leaping  out  from  his 
kindly  nature  like  waters  from  a  fountain ;  he  show- 
ed us  a  little  flag  of  the  American  Republic,  nailed 
to  one  of  his  study  book  -  cases  when  the  rebellion 
opened  its  guns  upon  Sumter  and  the  British 
government  cheered  it  on  with  its  peculiar  neutral- 
ity, and  which  he  said  had  never  since  been  lower- 
ed or  loosened  —  a  significant  expression  of  his 
sympathy  with  our  country  in  its  great  struggle. 

IV. 

FLORENCE, ITALY, Jan.  10, 1866. 
The  plains  of  Lombardy,  over  which  we  passed 
from  Turin  to  Venice,  and  more  or  less  from  Ven- 
ice to  Bologna,  are  remarkable  for  their  extent, 
their  fruitfulness,  the  perfection  in  agriculture,  and 
the  mulberry  orchards  and  vineyards  which  stretch 
away  on  either  side  of  the  road  like  the  prairies  of 


2O6  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

Illinois  and  Wisconsin.  The  snow  -  crested  mount- 
ain boundaries  glorify  all.  Nothing  seems  want- 
ing to  make  the  most  adequate  provision  for  drain- 
age and  irrigation ;  the  trees  are  properly  trained ; 
the  pruning  -  knife  has  been  applied  to  the  vines ; 
the  stones  are .  removed  from  the  fields ;  the  roads 
are  as  good  as  engineering  and  constant  attention 
can  make  them ;  the  bridges  are  massive,  solid, 
complete  stone  structures,  looking  as  though  they 
might  be  five  hundred  years  old,  and  were  good  for  a 
thousand  more  ;  the  hills  are  terraced  as  far  upward 
as  is  practicable,  and  the  whole  movement  of  com- 
mon life  goes  on  like  the  stars  in  their  courses,  as 
though  change  were  out  of  the  question.  What  re- 
mains is  to  take  care  of  what  has  been  done.  Men 
are  seen  spading  up  the  most  level  fields,  where  the 
steam  -  plow  might  run  for  hours  without  difficulty  ; 
the  problem  here  is  manifestly  not  to  find  how 
much  human  labor  can  be  dispensed  with,  but  how 
much  can  be  economically  or  properly  used.  And 
so,  while  the  whole  Lombardy  valley  is  like  a  gar- 
den in  regularity,  beauty  and  fruitfulness,  the  peas- 
antry are  poor,  fighting  the  battle  of  life  at  great 
disadvantage  ;  and,  so  far  as  this  world  goes,  reach- 
ing nothing  but  meager  results  even  when  their  pa- 
tient persistence  gives  them  victory  instead  of  defeat. 
We  enjoyed  Milan.  It  is  a  neat,  thriving  city ; 
old,  but  not  decrepid.  It  has  many  historic  associ- 
ations, and  not  a  few  choice  products  of  art;  but 
there  are  two  things  which  especially  make  it  fa- 
mous. The  one  is  the  renowned  Fresco  of  Leonar- 


IN    EUROPE    AND    THE    EAST.  2(>7 

do  da  Vinci,  whose  subject  is  the  "  Last  Supper." 
The  other  is  the  great  Cathedral. 

The  fresco  has  been  greatly  defaced  by  time  and 
violence ;  not  a  single  head  or  form  is  complete ; 
the  building  in  which  we  find  it  is  old,  low,  out- of - 
the  way  and  cheerless,  and  the  sexton  who  keeps 
the  key  must  be  looked  up.  But  we  found  the  man 
and  looked  at  the  picture. 

The  glory  of  the  work  is  seen  in  the  central  fig- 
ure. The  artist  has  done,  perhaps,  whatever  a 
mortal  can  do,  in  the  way  of  embodying  the  com- 
bined majesty  and  benignity  of  the  great  Master's 
character.  I  have  seen  no  'other  face  of  Christ 
among  the  multitude  that  look  out- from  all  these 
vast  galleries,  which,  on  the  Whole,  comes  so  near 
the  ideal  which  the  New  Testament  picture  gives. 
It  wakes  the  profound  reverence  which  prompts 
worship,  while  kindling  the  sympathetic  confidence 
which  sends  the  soul  to  His  bosom  as  to  the  heart  of 
a  great  and  long  -  tried  friend.  Out  from  those  lips 
it  is  easy  to  believe  there  might  come  in  successive 
sentences,  the  words :  "  He  that  hath  seen  me  hath 
seen  the  Father."  "  Him  that  cometh  unto  me  I 
will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  Not  a  single  restoration, 
or  copy,  or  photograph,  or  engraving  of  this  great 
picture,  which  I  have  seen,  preserves  this  "  majes- 
tic sweetness,"  which  not  only  "sits  enthroned" 
upon  the  brow  of  Jesus,  but  which  here  informs 
every  feature  and  writes  itself  in  the  whole  attitude. 

Of  the  cathedral  it  is  difficult  to  speak  in  any  sat- 
isfactory' way.  It  is  easy  enough  to  say  that  it  is 


2O8  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

built  of  white  marble,  from  pavement  to  spire;  that 
it  was  commenced  in  the  fourteenth  century,  and 
though  a  large  number  of  workmen  are  constantly 
employed,  it  is  a  long  way  from  completion  ;  that 
its  extreme  length  is  about  500  feet,  its  breadth  at 
the  transepts  about  300,  its  height 'from  the  pave- 
ment to  the  top  of  the  statue  of  the  Virgin  which 
surmounts  the  spire,  nearly  400;  that  the  number 
of  statues,  mostly  of  life  size  and  larger,  executed  in 
the  highest  style  of  art,  and  set  in  the  niches,  on  the 
angles  and  pinnacles  as  ornaments  to  the  exterior,  is 
about  7000,  with  3000  yet  to  be  added;  that  the 
smaller  perpendicular  projections  from  the  roof, — 
representing  so  many  varieties  of  botanical  shrubs 
and  flowers,  and  made,  when  viewed  at  a  given 
angle,  to  appear  like  a  vast  flower  garden, —  is  not 
less  than  15000.  But  all  this  will  amount  to  very 
little  in  describing  the  cathedral  as  a  whole,  wheth- 
er viewing  it  from  a  distance  or  near  at  hand ;  seek- 
ing to  take  in  the  great  pile  as  a  whole,  or  fixing 
attention  upon  any  single  portion  in  its  details ; 
walking  over  its  pavement  and  looking  upward  to 
the  lofty  frescoed  ceiling  that  seems  like  the  brood- 
ing of  heaven  at  twilight,  or  standing  among  its  pin- 
nacles, turrets,  balustrades,  arches  and  statues  on 
the  roof,  and  looking  down  upon  the  architectural 
glories  that  arrest  your  vision  all  the  way  to  the 
street ;  inspecting  a  single  statue  till  the  soul  is  full 
of  wonder  at  the  skill  of  the  sculptor,  or  regarding 
the  great  structure  itself  as  the  embodiment  of  the 
architect's  magnificent  conception,  and  crystaliza- 


IN    EUROPE    AND    THE    EAST.  2CX) 

tion  of  the  religious  experiences  of  the  race  into  vis- 
ible and  permanent  form  ;  it  is  still  a  wonder  and  a 
glory,  defying  your  analysis,  silencing  your  tongue, 
beggaring  your  description,  spreading  itself  on 
every  side  beyond  your  ideals,  mocking  your  efforts 
at  comprehension.  There  is  nothing  to  do  but 
stand,  look,  admire  and  wonder,  to  go  away  sur- 
feited, to  come  and  look  again  and  then  go  away 
as  before,  feeling  that  the  spirit  is  too  narrow  for 
such  a  conception  to  inhabit,  too  weak  to  bear 
away  such  a  burden  of  splendor.  And  so  you  go 
away  at  last,  with  only  the  outlines  of  a  great  tem- 
ple drawn  on  the  tablet  of  memory,  within  which 
beauty  and  sublimity,  in  many  and  varied  forms, 
come  and  go,  like  clouds  of  gold  and  crimson  in  the 
summer  sky ;  and  instead  of  a  house  built  by  human 
hands  which  your  mathematics  have  measured,  you, 
are  haunted  by  visions  of  a  temple  let  down  from 
above  before  you,  as  the  New  Jerusalem  showed  it- 
self to  John  in  the  panorama  of  the  Apocalypse. 

There  are  larger  structures ;  there  are  costlier 
and  many  more  noted  ones  which  I  may  yet  see, 
but  I  have  no  expectation  that  architecture  will 
speak  to  me  again  through  lifeless  marble  with  a 
voice  more  impressive.  Leaving  out  of  the  account 
the  economical  and  strictly  moral  consideration, 
and  regarding  such  a  pile  from  a  purely  aesthetic 
or  artistic  stand  -  point,  it  is  something  to  be  admired 
with  almost  unbounded  and  perfect  joy.  As  such,  it 
is  pleasant  to  contemplate  it.  Stopping  to  ask 
whether  the  Christianity  in  whose  name  it  is  reared 


2IO  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

would  sanction  such  an  outlay  for  a  mere  temple, 
when  the  contrite  heart  is  the  true  dwelling-place 
of  God  on  earth ;  whether  the  disciples  can  be  justi- 
fied in  rearing- for  their  occupancy  such  an  abiding 
place  while  claiming  to  imitate  him  who  had  not 
where  to  lay  his  head  ;  whether  so  much  gold  may 
be  properly  locked  up  in  marble  walls,  and  sense- 
less statues,  while  our  poorer  brethren  pine  from 
hunger,  and  our  Father's  children  famish  for  the 
bread  of  life;  and  especially  asking,  whether  a  false 
.faith  and  a  cheating  round  of  ceremonies  ought  in 
any  case  to  be  rendered  more  imposing  and  attract- 
ive and  powerful  by  throwing  around  them  such  a 
robe  of  beauty  and  magnificence; — then,  indeed, 
.there  is  an  alloy  flung  into  the  pleasure  of  contem- 
plation, and  the  picture  is  likely  to  be  marred  by  the 
doubt  awakened  over  its  office.  Alas,  that  the  glo- 
ry of  art  should  be  so  often  the  shame  of  religion  ! 

v. 

ROME,  ITALY,  Jan.  25,  1866. 
.  .  .  But  I  may  say  that  the  churches,  rich 
and  glorious  as  they  are,  considered  from  an  artistic 
stand  -  point,  do  not  seem  to  me  at  all  like  the  tem- 
ple of  God,  unless  they  are  deserted  and  silent,  and 
so  leave  me  to  my  own  meditations  ;  and  I  go  to 
witness  the  ceremonies  at  the  festivals  as  I  go  to 
witness  any  other  splendid  pageant,  and  I  am  sure 
I  shall  not  be  disappointed.  Save  when,  here  and 
there,  1  see  a  poor  working  man,  with  horny  hand 
and  subdued  and  wondering  look,  kneel  on  the 
pavement  and  reverently  repeat  a  prayer  as  though 


IN   EUROPE    AND    THE   EAST.  211 

conscious  that  God  was   marking  whether  it  were 
the  real  language  of  his  soul,  or  only  the  meaning- 
less repetition  of  the  lips  ;  or  when  some  woman's 
furrowed  face  carries  a  whole  volume   of  inward 
history, — of  hardships  which  waste  her  strength; 
of  disappointments  which  consume  her  courage ;  of 
afflictions  that  strike  the  stars  out   of  her  sk}r ;  of 
brave  struggles  that  bring  only  defeats ;  of  bereave- 
ments  that   beckon    her   to  the   hereafter ;  and  of 
wounds  which    Christ   only    can    heal, —  prostrates 
herself  in   utter  forgetfulness  of  human  observers, 
and  moans  out  her  agony  toward  heaven,  and  sends 
up    her  longing  in   speechless   sighs, —  save  when 
such  worshippers  as  these  push  all  the  priestly  cer- 
emonialism out  of  sight  and  out  of  mind,  or  when 
the  wondrous  music  makes  of  the  whole  soul  an 
answering  instrument,  and  sets  it  singing  through 
the  whole  scale  of  emotion, —  I  get  no  quickening 
or  comforting  thoughts  of  God,  and  am  touched  by 
no  influence  that  binds  me  close  in  loving  service  to 
my  kind.     I  can  simply  enjoy  a  great  cathedral  as 
I  enjoy  a  gallery  of  paintings  or  statues  ;  there  are 
faces  in  the  latter  as  full  of  heaven  as  the  chapels 
of  the  former ;  both  alike  tell  me  how  great  is  the 
spirit  in  man  to  which  the  Almighty  has  given  un- 
derstanding.    And  I  look  upon  the  processions  and 
the  ritual  as  I  look  upon  the  glitter  and  the  evolu- 
tions of  a  great  military  parade ;  both  alike  impress 
me  with  the  wondrous  power  which  comes  of  skill- 
ful organization,  and  prove  that  pantomime  may  be 
thrillingly   eloquent.     There  is  to  me  far  more  to 


212  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

kindle  devotion  in  a  majestic  mountain,  which  God's 
strength  long  since  reared,  or  in  the  simple  prayer 
of  a  child,  whose  heart  his  grace  is  now  touching. 

VI. 

NAPLES,  Jan.  30,  1866. 

Naples  is  a  thoroughly  Italian  city.  The  bay  up- 
on whose  convex  curve  it  stands  is  very  beautiiul, 
deserving  a  large  part  of  the  praise  which  has  been 
lavished  upon  it.  The  slope  of  its  site  upward  from 
the  coast  to  the  Castle  of  St.  Elmo,  where  the  bluff 
overlooks  the  sea  and  the  surrounding  country, 
opens  the  whole  area  of  the  city  to  view,  whether 
one  looks  upward  irom  the  harbor,  or  downward 
from  the  fortified  ramparts.  Towns  crowd  down  to 
the  shore  for  a  considerable  distance  on  either  hand, 
and  villages  nestle  at  the  toot  of  the  hills  as  though 
feeLng  sure  of  shelter,  or  as  if  choosing  a  place 
meet  for  the  rearing  of  altars  where  the  grandeur 
of  nature  is  a  perpetual  call  and  stimulus  to  worship. 
At  the  eastward  towers  Vesuvius,  the  crest  of  min- 
gled cloud  from  the  sea  and  of  smoke  from  the  cra- 
ter resting  nearly  all  the  day  long  upon  his  brow, 
or  hanging  poised  above  his  head,  prophetic  of  a 
coronation.  The  sky  is  lofty  and  has  its  own  Ital- 
ian tint  of  blue  ;  the  waters  of  the  bay  are  still 
bluer,  and  so  clear  that  you  look  far  down  into  the 
depths  and  see  the  mysteries  of  marine  life.  All 
mountains  are  seen  through  a  veil  of  thin,  delicate 
mist,  blue,  purple  or  golden,  according  to  the  posi- 
tion of  the  observer,  the  strength  of  the  light,  or  the 
hour  chosen  for  observation.  The  tinting  of  the 


IN    EUROPE    AND    THE    EAST. 

scattered  clouds  at  noon  is  very  delicate  and  sil- 
very ;  as  the  day  wears  on,  they  present  a  clearer 
outline,  and  seem  piled  into  more  compact  masses; 
as  they  accompany  the  sun  to  his  chamber  they 
blush,  first  with  pink  and  violet,  then  with  orange, 
then  with  scarlet  and  crimson,  and  when  he  has 
sunk,  a  mighty  globe  of  gold,  out  of  sight,  he  seems 
to  be  casting  a  smile  back  upon  his  attendants, 
lighting  them  up  with  a  wondrous  gorgeousness, 
setting  the  whole  horizon  aglow,  and  making  the 
sea  look  like  the  pavement  of  a  fabled  palace. 
The  very  air  carries  balm  to  the  spirit  and  soothing 
to  the  nerves,  fancies  mix  themselves  with  sober 
thought,  and  while  you  walk  you  are  dreaming. 

To  stand  beside  one  of  these  crowded  streets, 
and  look  upon  the  panorama  of  life  as  its  successive 
sections  present  themselves,  is  something  rare  if  not 
rich, —  an  experience  to  be  remembered  even  if  one 
does  not  care  to  have  it  repeated. 

There  have  been  occasional  allusions  to  beggary 
and  beggars  in  this  foreign  correspondence.  The 
topic  is  rendered  prominent  enough  in  one's  experi- 
ence to  justify  the  devotion  of  a  letter  to  the  portrait- 
ure of  this  phase  of  life.  One  meets  it  all  over  the 
continent.  Naples  has  long  had  the  reputation  of 
outdoing  all  other  cities  ;  but  Rome  leaves  it  now 
far  in  the  rear,  whatever  may  have  been  the  case 
heretofore.  Travellers  are  generally  regarded  by 
the  people  on  the  continent  as  legitimate  game  for 
all  classes  to  capture  and  pluck. 

There    are    all    sorts   of   beggars :    beggars    in 


214  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

broadcloth  and  beggars  in  rags ;  beggars  who  de- 
pend for  success  upon  the  use  of  brain,  and  beggars 
who  rely  upon  the  powers  of  brass ;  beggars  who 
make  it  a  life  -  long  occupation  and  who  proceed  ac- 
cording to  pre  -  formed  theories,  and  beggars  who 
take  up  the  business  at  odd  times  and  intervals,  and 
follow  the  lead  of  circumstances  or  the  guidance  of 
impulses  ;  beggars  that  demand  with  confident  tone, 
and  beggars  that  whine  out  their  pleas  in  a  minor 
key;  beggars  that  depend  on  their  good  looks,  and 
beggars  that  employ  all  hereditary  and  acquired 
loathsomeness  to  compel  a  surrender ;  beggars  that 
enforce  an  appeal  with  their  age,  and  beggars  that 
touch  your  heart  by  youthfulness ;  beggars  that 
urge  their  own  sufferings,  and  beggars  that  praise 
your  ability  and  generosity  ;  .beggars  that  threaten 
you  with  curses  if  you  do  not  give  them,  and  beg- 
gars that  promise  you  their  own  perpetual  prayers 
and  the  Blessed  Virgin's  eternal  intercession  if  you 
do  give  them  ;  beggars  who  tell  you  what  they  have 
already  suffered,  and  beggars  who  picture  the  suf- 
ferings which  they  expect  will  come  unless  your  sil- 
ver shall  speedily  halt  the  terrible  procession ;  beg- 
gars who  seek  relief  for  themselves,  and  beggars 
having  a  whole  house  full  of  friends  eagerly  looking 
for  the  deliverance  which  a  few  coppers  will  surely 
carry  them ;  beggars  who  ask  your  charity  as  a 
mighty  hand  to  lift  them  out  of  purgatory,  and  beg- 
gars who  ask  it  as  a  key  to  lock  them  securely  into 
paradise. 

These  are  not  over  -  statements.      In  Rome  espe- 


IN   EUROPE   AND   THE   EAST.  215 

cially,  it  would  not  be  easy  to  exaggerate  the  truth. 
You  find  a  beggar  at  the  door  when  you  go  out  in 
the  morning,  beseeching  you  to  begin  the  day  with 
a  gift,  and  there  is  another,  or  the  same,  waylaying 
you  at  night,  praying  you  to  carry  a  lighter  con- 
science to  your  bed  by  leaving  behind  a  donation. 
You  go  on  the  street,  and  a  beggar  is  beside  you, 
with  slouched  hat  in  hand  or  miserable  bonnet  un- 
der the  arm,  pleading,  as  always,  for  money.  Stop 
a  moment  before  a  shop  window,  and  a  group  of 
them  is  surrounding  you.  At  every  corner  a  fresh 
voice  accosts  you ;  each  public  square  has  its  guard 
of  mendicants.  While  you  are  engaging  a  car- 
riage to  visit  some  object  of  interest,  your  bargaining 
is  interrupted  by  voices  that  keep  up  the  perpetual 
murmur  of  "  bajoccha.^  When  you  turn  to  get  in, 
some  beggar's  hand  is  on  each  of  the  doors  which 
are  opened  for  your  entrance  ;  the  beggar  grasping 
the  door  which  you  do  take  closes  it  after  you  and 
confidently  asks  for  money  in  pay  for  the  service ; 
the  beggar  grasping  the  door  which  you  do  not  take 
grievously  or  indignantly  asks  for  money  in  pay  for 
the  disappointment.  When  you  alight,  the  process 
is  repeated.  Every  gallery  has  its  beggars,  waiting 
at  the  entrance  to  get  the  first  fee  ;  every  old  monu- 
ment or  ruin  has  waiting  in  its  neighborhood  more 
than  one  human  monument  of  wretchedness,  and 
more  than  one  poor  wreck  of  life,  whose  story  you 
must  guess,  but  whose  meaning  you  are  not  permit- 
ted to  mistake.  Similar  experiences  in  beggary  ac- 
company all  undertakings,  and  crowd  themselves 


2l6  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

into  the  life  of  every  successive  day.  Men  and 
women,  the  old  and  the  young,  the  strong  and  the 
feeble,  those  who  choose  the  occupation  for  its 
profit,  and  those  who  know  no  other  way  in  which 
to  eke  out  a  miserable  subsistence,  desperate  char- 
acters and  pitiable  characters,  those  who  excite  only 
suspicion  and  disgust  and  those  whose  mournful 
tones  touch  the  heart,  and  whose  pleading,  anxious, 
sorrow  -  stamped  faces  haunt  you  for  days, —  all,  all, 
without  any  apparent  sense  of  shame  or  feeling  of 
reluctance,  seeming  to  count  the  business  legitimate 
if  it  may  only  be  successful,  unite  in  swelling  the 
army  of  beggars,  whose  representatives  are  every- 
where, but  whose  great  encampment  and  principal 
field  of  operations  is  the  city  which  once  boasted  of 
being  mistress  of  the  world,  and  which  now  glories 
in  having  been  for  fifteen  centuries  the  capital  and 
the  efflorescence  of  Christendom. 

VII. 

CAIRO,  EGYPT,  Feb.,  1866. 

••.!  .  .  .  But  the  Egypt  of  to-day  seems  far 
enough  from  leadership,  or  instruction,  or  national 
beneficence.  If  it  was  the  cradle  where  ancient 
civilization  was  rocked,  one  might  be  pardoned  for 
the  suggestion  that  when  the  child  left  the  cradle  it 
forsook  the  homestead  and  carried  away  all  the  glo- 
ry. If  Egypt  nursed  enterprise  after  she  had  given 
it  birth,  it  might  seem  that  the  offspring  absorbed 
all  the  parent's  vitality.  The  ancient  ambition  is 
dead,  and  one  looks  in  vain  for  the  active  forces 
that  built  Thebes,  and  fashioned  the  tombs,  and 


IN    EUROPE    AND    THE    EAST.  217 

conceived  the  Colossus,  and  sculptured  the  Sphinx, 
and  piled  the  pyramids. 

I  was  not  prepared  to  find  poverty  so  abject,  so 
general  and  so  unambitious,  character  so  wanting 
in  manliness,  government  so  imperfect  a  guardian, 
and  religion  so  largely  a  series  of  undefined  super- 
stitions. The  dwellings  of  the  masses  are  shock- 
ingly poor  and  disgustingly  filthy.  Villages,  just 
outside  of  these  chief  cities,  appear,  a  little  distance 
away,  like  a  huddle  of  sand  -  hills  or  mud  -  heaps  ; 
at  hand,  they  are  found  to  be  receptacles  where 
human  and  animal  life  indiscriminately  gather 
themselves  into  companionship,  partly  above 
ground,  and  partly  below  ;  now  within  walls  of  sun  - 
dried  brick,  and  then  merely  of  clay ;  here  with  a 
partial  roof  of  coarse  reed,  half- thatched  and  half- 
piled  upon  supporting  cross  -  pieces,  while  there  the 
only  bed  is  a  ragged  blanket  on  the  earth,  and  the 
only  canopy  the  sky.  Donkeys,  dogs  and  fowls 
mix  together  and  writh  the  human  denizens ;  the 
door-yard  and  the  barn -yard  are  identical,  and 
while  nature  gives  the  kids  a  covering,  the  children 
are  more  or  less  resigned  to  nudity.  How  the  hu- 
man system  endures  such  neglect  and  uncleanliness 
is  a  wonder ;  that  epidemics  should  leave  whole 
streets  and  towns  anything  else  than  cemeteries  is  a 
problem  for  physiologists  to  solve.  It  is  one  merit 
of  the  Mohammedan  religion  that  it  lays  such  stress 
upon  ablution  ;  if  it  had  required  the  bathing  to  be 
thorough  and  entire,  it  might  have  paved  the  way 
for  a  faith  that  insists  upon  decency  as  a  part  or  a 


2l8  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

condition  of  godliness.  I  do  not  overlook  the  allow- 
ance of  climate  or  of  custom  ;  but  after  discounting 
liberally,  on  every  reasonable  ground,  there  is  still 
left  an  amount  of  debasement,  a  general  ignorance, 
a  destitution  of  honor,  a  poverty  of  heart, —  a  lack, 
indeed,  of  all  the  qualities  which  make  character 
attractive,  affections  purifying,  domestic  life  a  sac- 
rament, and  faith  a  bond  of  ennobling  fellowships, 
—  such  as  surprises  as  well  as  saddens.  Egypt 
once  sheltered  the  Redeemer's  infancy  when  hatred 
was  hunting  it  elsewhere  ;  oh,  if  it  might  now  wel- 
come His  quickening  Spirit  and  find  a  new  life  run- 
ning through  all  its  diseased  and  palsied  frame  ! 

In  Cairo  as  at  Rome, —  beneath  the  dome  of  the 
mosque  as  well  as  along  the  nave  of  the  cathe- 
dral,—  the  maximum  of  piety  seems  often  coupled 
with  the  minimum  of  character. 

VIII. 

MT.  SINAI,  ARABIAN  DESERT,  ) 
March  5,  1866.      5 

From  Suez,  we  had  six  days  of  sailing  over  the 
Red  Sea  before  we  landed  at  Tor,  whose  harbor  we 
had  hoped  to  make  in  thirty  hours.  Then  three 
days  of  desert  and  camel  -  riding, —  of  stretches  of 
sandy  desert,  and  mountain  gorges  where  upheav- 
als had  torn  and  splintered  the  rock,  and  tourists 
had  plowed  up  the  lighter  debris, —  of  bare,  rugged 
peaks  outlined  against  the  sky,  and  tufts  of  verdure 
and  branches  of  flowers  springing  up  here  and 
there  beside  the  dreary  path, —  of  wild  and  narrow 
passes,  alternating  with  valleys  that  broadened 


IN   EUROPE   AND    THE   EAST.  2Ip 

almost  into  plains, —  of  scorching  heat  that  made 
the  camels  moan,  and  the  drivers  pant,  and  the 
riders  sigh,  and  then  a  cool  breeze,  that  breathed 
life  into. the  wilting  frame,  or  a  clear  pool  sheltered 
from  the  sun,  or  a  gurgling  streamlet  that  made  us 
shout  with  gratitude  and  taught  us  the  meaning 
of  many  promises  that  sparkle  on  the  pages  of  the 
prophets ;  —  three  days  of  this  strange  life,  followed 
by  nights  where  only  a  tent  stood  between  us  and 
sky,  and  only  a  mattress  between  us  and  the  sand 
—  and  we  came  to  a  halt  before  the  gates  of  the 
Convent  at  Mt.  Sinai.  Our  letter  was  sent  up  by 
a  rope  let  down  from  a  post-  hole  in  the  wall,  and 
soon  a  venerable  looking  priest,  with  a  kindly  face 
and  a  smile  of  welcome,  came  out,  and  led  us  to 
such  apartments  as  he  had  to  offer.  They  were  not 
luxurious,  but  they  were  comfortable  ;  and  the  hos- 
pitality came  at  such  a  time  and  in  such  a  way  that 
it  signified  much  and  blessed  us  largely. 

This  is  our  third  day  at  Sinai.  The  wild,  rug- 
ged, awful,  transcendent  majesty  of  this  mountain- 
ous tract  has  had  time  to  impress  the  heart,  and  has 
done  it.  It  is  a  fitting  school  -  room  in  which  to 
teach  a  nation,  born  and  reared  amid  idolatries,  the 
unity  and  majesty  of  God.  Here,  if  anywhere,  a 
people  might  be  cured  of  the  tendency  to  worship 
the  creature,  and  taught  to  bow  only  before  the 
great  Creator.  It  seems  not  strange  that  Moses 
should  here  have  received  his  great  commission,  and 
that  God  should  choose  these  echoing  mountains  as 
aids  to  his  voice  wrhen  he  had  his  weightiest  words 


22O  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

to  utter.  An  imaginative,  thoughtful  and  religious 
nature,  like  Mohammed's,  would  find  food  for  medi- 
tation here,  and  it  is  not  so  wonderful  that  it  should 
seem  to  be  a  Divine  voice  which  he  heard  coming 
up  from  the  depths  of  his  own  excited  and  pro- 
foundly sensitive  soul,  swept  by  the  influences  that 
seem  haunting  these  solitudes.  Here,  if  anywhere, 
man  gets  back  to  the  wild,  simple  grandeur  of  na- 
ture;  here,  if  anywhere,  he  would  be  forced  to  feel 
himself  standing  face  to  face  with  Jehovah.  And 
for  the  same  reasons  that  induced  God  to  choose 
such  a  man  as  Moses  to  be  a  prophetic  leader,  he 
might  fittingly  choose  this  same  Sinai  where  I  write 
to  be  the  temple  for  the  unveiling  of  his  glory  to  Is- 
rael, and  the  audience  room  where  he  proclaimed 
the  statutes  that  were  to  go  sounding  on  through 
time. 

Yesterday  was  the  Sabbath.  The  Greek  ritual 
was  hurried  through  by  the  monks  in  the  Convent 
chapel  before  sunrise,  and  the  day  was  before  us. 
Do  you  ask  how  we  spent  it?  We  took  our  Bibles, 
climbed  to  the  point  which  tradition,  historical  criti- 
cism, and  rational  probability  designate  as  the  spot 
where  Moses  received  the  law  in  the  sight  of  the 
people,  sat  down  in  silence,  took  in,  feature  by 
feature,  the  wild,  and  almost  awfully  sublime  scen- 
ery, put  ourselves  as  far  as  possible  into  sympathy 
with  the  ancient  transaction,  peopled  the  valley  at 
our  feet  with  all  the  thousands  that  once  stood  here 
among  the  camps,  hushed,  expectant,  trembling, 
anxious,  as  they  saw  the  cloud,  witnessed  the  light- 


IN    EUROPE    AND    THE    EAST.  221 

nings,  heard  the  thunders,  and  felt  the  quaking  of 
the  mountain ;  then  opened  to  the  narrative  in  Exo- 
dus and  read  the  story  as  the  pen  of  inspiration  has 
traced  it,  Decalogue  and  all,  and  as  we  came  to  the 
sentence,  "  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before 
me,"  we  felt  the  significance  of  those  deathless 
words  as  never  before.  With  that  law  pouring  its 
sanctity  upon  our  souls,  what  was  more  fitting  than 
to  sing,  "  Rock  of  ages,  cleft  for  me,"  and  then  bow 
ourselves  in  prayer  before  God's  majesty,  confess 
our  sinfulness  in  the  presence  of  the  statute  we  had 
often  broken,  lift  our  tearful  thanksgiving  that  the 
Gospel  had  opened  a  way  of  forgiveness,  and  ask 
that  the  authority  of  law  and  the  pathos  of  love 
might  combine  in  a  motive  that  should  henceforth 
make  life  a  work  of  obedience,  and  our  path  the 
highway  of  holiness,  leading  straight  and  sure  to 
heaven.  And  thus  we  spent  the  Sabbath  at  Sinai. 

IX. 

JERUSALEM,  March  30,  1866. 
It  is  Holy  Week  in  Jerusalem.  The  city  is  full 
of  people,  for  the  tide  of  visitors  and  pilgrims  has 
been  setting  steadily  and  strongly  in  this  direction 
for  some  weeks  past,  from  almost  every  quarter  of 
the  religious  world.  Our  own  country  is  largely 
represented  here.  The  arrival  of  some  new  Ameri- 
can party  is  an  event  of  almost  daily  occurrence ; 
and  there  are  just  now  but  few  departures,  for  the 
culminating  point  of  the  festivities  is  just  at  hand, 
and  the  attraction  holds  nearly  all  who  arrive.  Last 
Sabbath  was  Palm  Sunday,  and  the  Latins  had 


222  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

their  usual  ceremony  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre.  To  -  day  is  Good  Friday,  observed  by 
the  Catholics  and  the  Episcopalians  according  to 
their  custom ;  it  is  also  the  great  day  of  the  Jewish 
Passover,  and  the  unleavened  bread  and  the  bitter 
herbs  will  not  be  forgotten  by  any  son  of  Abraham 
according  to  the  flesh.  To  -  night  the  crucifixion 
of  Christ  is  to  be  dramatized  in  the  Greek  Church  — 
a  performance  scandalous  enough,  one  would  think, 
to  raise  a  blush  even  on  the  cheeks  of  the  shameless 
ecclesiastics  who  get  it  up  in  the  name  of  religion 
and  the  church.  I  shall  decline  to  attend  it.  The 
very  thought  of  it  is  shocking.  I  would  prefer  to 
go  out  alone  to  Gethsemane,  and  read  by  the  moon- 
light half  a  dozen  of  those  touching  and  sublime 
chapters  beginning  with  the  thirteenth  of  St.  John. 
The  thousands  of  pilgrims  who  went  out  of  the  city 
Wednesday  morning  to  bathe  in  the  Jordan  are  to  *• 
day  pouring  back  over  the  Mount  of  Olives  and 
through  St.  Stephen's  gate ;  the  Jews  are  moaning 
and  smiting  their  breasts  with  peculiar  unction  at 
their  wailing -place,  while  they  look  upon  the 
stones  of  the  ancient  city  wall,  and  read  the  pas- 
sages that  speak  of  the  glory  which  is  no  longer 
theirs.  Next  Sunday  will  be  Easter,  and  then  the 
living  tide  will  begin  its  ebbing ;  though  the  Greek 
party  will  still  hold  out  the  attraction  of  the  Holy 
Fire,  and  keep  another  Easter  a  week  hence. 

It  is  not  easy  to  write  a  descriptive  letter  here. 
One  would  prefer  silent  meditation  to  speech,  and 
leave  thought  and  feeling  to  themselves,  rather  than 


IN   EUROPE    AND    THE    EAST.  223 

constrain"  them  to  flow  in  any  epistolary  channel. 
There  is  quite  too  much  to  be  told ;  and  one  is  like- 
ly to  feel  that  very  little  can  be  done  in  the  way  of 
telling  what  is  perceived  and  felt.  The  historic 
personages  and  significant  events  that  are  associated 
with  almost  every  square  foot  of  this  territory,  come 
crowding  upon  the  mind,  and  the  present  is  lost  in 
the  past.  Through  the  steady  murmur  of  the 
streets,  there  seems  to  be  coming  up  the  music  of 
David's  Psalms,  sung  over  there  on  Moriah ;  and 
while  the  throngs  sweep  by,  you  are  wondering 
how  the  Great  Teacher  appeared  when  he  came  up 
to  the  Passover,  and  interpreted  and  fulfilled  the 
ancient  ritual  by  becoming  himself  the  Lamb  of 
God  to  take  away  the  sin  of  the  world. 

On  some  accounts,  we  seem  to  have  had  a  favora- 
ble introduction  to  this  land  of  the  Bible.  We  had 
spent  time  enough  in  Egypt  to  recover  from  any 
shock  which  a  first  view  of  oriental  life  might  occa- 
sion. The  features  that  seemed  at  first  strange  and 
disagreeable  had  become  familiar,  and  so  had 
mostly  ceased  to  absorb  attention  and  give  pain  as 
at  first.  The  trip  across  the  desert  had  made  us 
ready  to  appreciate  the  beauty  which  natural  scen- 
ery had  to  offer,  and  the  low  life  of  the  Arabs, 
among  whom  we  journeyed  for  nearly  a  month, 
made  Palestine  appear  beautiful  in  its  spring  cos- 
tume, and  a  long  way  toward  genuine  civilization. 
As  we  came  gradually  upon  the  cultivated  lands 
about  Gaza,  saw  the  flowers  springing  among  the 
grass,  caught  the  melody  of  birds  as  they  flung 


224  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

their  music  to  our  ears  from  every  side,  and  found 
peasants  following  the  plow,  or  casting  the  seed  in- 
to the  soil,  or  coming  out  to  greet  us  with  smiles 
and  civilities,  it  seemed  like  a  blessed  world  that 
was  giving  us  welcome,  and  the  common  people 
appeared  dignified  and  noble.  Just  now  the  feet  of 
spring  are  specially  beautiful  upon  the  mountains 
of  Syria,  and  the  city  and  the  people  find  favor  in 
the  eyes  of  those  who  were  becoming  weary  of  the 
monotony  of  the  desert,  and  who  had  been  studying 
humanity  in  the  type  presented  by  the  Bedouins. 

My  feet  are  at  length  really  standing  within  the 
gates  of  Jerusalem  !  I  have  walked  on  Mt.  Zion, 
explored  Moriah,  followed  the  bed  of  the  Kidron 
through  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  drunk  from  the 
pool  of  Siloam,  threaded  the  valley  of  Gehenna, 
mused  in"  Gethsemane,  stood  on  what  is  said  to  be 
Calvary,  climbed  Olivet,  and  strolled  about  Beth- 
any. I  do  not  much  trouble  myself  now  about  the 
assertions,  pretensions  and  disputes  of  Mohamme- 
dan, Jew,  Greek,  or  Latin,  respecting  topography 
in  detail ;  and  questions  of  historic  and  critical 
probability  consume  little  of  my  time.  I  am  sure 
that  here  is  where  the  great  events  which  underlie 
our  Christian  faith  occurred ;  here  Jesus  walked, 
taught,  and  triumphed,  and  opened  a  way  to  re- 
demption for  those  who  take  him  as  Master  and 
Lord  ;  here  the  whole  scriptural  narratives  are  illus- 
trated, confirmed  and  invested  with  a  meaning  and 
a  reality  which  they  never  before  possessed,  as  I  read 
them  where  their  heroes  lived ;  and  that  answers 


IN    EUROPE    AND    THE    EAST.  225 

every  vital  demand  of  intellect  and  heart.  Light 
flashes  upon  the  pages  of  the  New  Testament  like 
that  which  came  streaming  down  upon  the  plains 
at  Bethlehem  so  long  ago ;  I  am  sure  its  source  is 
in  heaven,  and  so  I  bow  down  with  a  grateful  confi- 
dence, and  lift  up  my  eyes  with  exceeding  great  joy. 
The  distant  Christ  comes  nearer  now  ;  blended  with 
the  Divine  majesty  in  his  face  there  is  a  more  thor- 
oughly human  smile  than  my  eye  had  ever  before 
caught ;  and  in  the  incarnation  of  Jesus  I  behold 
the  highest  glory  of  God  and  the  dearest  hope  of 
man.  Here  where  the  feet  of  the  Messiah  pressed 
the  mountains,  my  faith  finds  a  rock  on  which  to 
plant  itself;  on  the  height  whence  he  sprang  to  his 
upper  throne,  my  hope  spreads  its  wing  and  stops 
only  at  immortality. 

x. 

JERUSALEM,  April  2,  1866. 

It  is  a  remarkable  land.  The  varieties  of  climate 
are  both  numerous  and  great.  Mountain,  plain  and 
valley  alternate  with  great  frequency,  or  are  em- 
braced in  a  single  view.  From  one  point,  the  out- 
look is  only  upon  barrenness  that  suggests  the  des- 
ert, or  upon  the  ruined  works  of  other  days  ;  after 
an  hour's  travel,  the  landscape  becomes  a  picture  in 
which  the  well  -  kept  terraces  are  carried  to  the 
very  crest  of  the  hills ;  the  valleys  are  beautiful 
with  orchards  of  fig  and  olive,  flocks  feed  on  the 
hill -sides,  the  husbandman  is  plowing  in  the  fields, 
the  maidens  sing  as  they  fill  their  pitchers  at  the 
fountain,  and  the  merry  voices  of  children  at  play 


226  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

come  sounding  upon  the  air,  waking  memories  of  a 
distant  home  and  childhood. 

Within  this  comparatively  small  area,  all  latitudes 
appear  to  be  represented.  We  seem  to  have  trav- 
ersed a  zone  between  sunrise  and  midday.  Mt. 
Hermon  alone  gives  us  the  portraits  of  more  than 
half  the  months  that  make  up  the  family  circle  of 
the  year,  and  the  seasons  touch  each  other  along 
his  slope.  The  summer  covers  his  feet  with  flow- 
ers, the  spring  fills  his  lap  with  verdure,  and  win- 
ter puts  a  glistening  crown  upon  his  head.  Not 
•even  France  exhibits  more  fruitful  tracts  than  are 
some  of  those  which  beautify  the  valleys  of  Sama- 
ria ;  not  even  Sinai  or  the  desert  exceeds  the 
heights  that  overlook  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  in 
desolation.  The  Plain  of  Esdraelon  exhibits  agri- 
cultural capacities  scarcely  inferior  to  those  in  Lom- 
bardy ;  Gennesaret  reminds  one  of  a  Swiss  lake  ; 
and  the  majesty  of  Lebanon  is  akin  to  that  embod- 
ied by  the  Alps.  Other  lands  excel  it  in  some  sin- 
gle features ;  it  was  left  for  this  to  represent  the 
countries  into  which  a  continent  is  divided,  and 
almost  to  epitomize  the  world. 

The  general  average  of  intelligence,  enterprise 
and  character  is  higher  in  Palestine  than  in  Egypt ; 
it  is  a  long  way  above  that  which  we  found  in  the 
desert.  The  faces  have  a  more  pleasant  look,  the 
salutations  are  more  cordial,  there  are  less  villain- 
ous eyes  glaring  out  from  beneath  dark  brows,  and 
the  word  fellowship  seems  oftener  interpreted  by 
the  observed  intercourse  of  life.  And  still,  even  in 


IN    EUROPE    AND    THE    EAST.  227 

these  respects,  a  few  miles  will  exhibit  great  differ- 
ences. 

The  villages  of  Nain,  where  Jesus  gave  the  wid- 
ow's son  from  the  bier  to  his  mothers  bosom ;  and  En- 
dor,  where  the  sorceress  confronted  Saul  with  an 
apparition,  are  but  two  miles  apart ;  yet  one  seems 
animated  by  the  spirit  of  a  human  friendliness, 
while  the  other  scowls  defiance  from  the  faces  of  its 
women,  screams  impudence  from  the  lips  of  its  chil-' 
dren,  and  steals  whatever  it  can  get  by  the  hands 
of  all  classes  of  its  population. 

Bethlehem  and  Nazareth,  the  birth-place  and 
the  early  home  of  Jesus,  are  especially  distinguished 
for  the  admirable  natural  positions  which  they  occu- 
py, for  their  neat,  thriving  and  substantial  appear- 
ance, for  the  fair  complexion  and  pleasant  faces 
which  abound,  and  for  the  prominence  of  the  nom- 
inally Christian  element  in  the  population.  And 
though,  when  tried  by  a  New  England  standard, 
the  lack  would  appear  sad  enough  in  all  these  re- 
spects, the  reputation  is  not  undeserved.  Gaza  is 
impudent ;  Hebron  is  this  and  fanatical  besides ; 
Bethel  is  dirty  and  uncivilized ;  while  not  a  few 
towns  combine  all  these  characteristics  with  not  a 
few  others  of  equal  significance  and  attractiveness. 

.  .  .  Jerusalem  is  not  a  city  for  the  mere  tour- 
ist, but^  for  the  pious  pilgrim.  Its  objects  do  not 
challenge  criticism,  but  prompt  to  prayer.  Its 
office  is  not  chiefly  the  stimulation  of  intellect,  but 
the  purification  and  elevation  of  the  affections. 
There  is  little  to  be  told  that  feeds  and  satisfies 


228  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

common  curiosity ;  it  does  its  work  by  vitalizing  the 
soul ;  and  who  can  transfer  a  thrilling  religious  ex- 
perience to  a  page  of  manuscript,  and  send  it  flam- 
ing six  thousand  miles  across  the  continents  and 
seas  to  interpret  itself  in  the  inner  life  of  others  ? 

XI. 
LOUGHBOROUGH,  ENGLAND,  June  21,    1 866. 

We  have  put  the  English  Channel  between  us 
and  the  European  continent.  Only  the  Atlantic  re- 
mains to  be  crossed  before  we  reach  America.  The 
attraction  increases  as  the  distance  grows  less ;  and 
with  the  music  of  our  blessed  mother  tongue  filling 
the  air  and  voicing  the  spirit  of  fellowship,  home  is 
assuming  reality,  and  its  temple  seems  not  very  far 
away.  I  went  to  Crown  Court  last  Sabbath  evening 
and  heard  Dr.  Gumming.  His  chapel  is  close  to 
Drury  Lane  Theatre,  in  a  neighborhood  not  attract- 
ive to  the  eye ;  and  the  chapel  itself  exhibits  less  re- 
gard to  taste  and  architectural  harmony  than  the 
average  of  Dissenting  chapels  here, — a  statement 
carrying  with  it  a  verdict  severe  enough  to  express 
any  amount  of  condemnation.  It  is  not  very  large, 
though  its  interior  arrangements  are  such  as  to  pro- 
vide for  seating  quite  a  numerous  congregation.  Dr. 
Gumming  is  a  gentlemanly-looking  man,  neatly  and 
carefully  dressed,  a  little  above  the  medium  height, 
of  regular  features,  fair  complexion,  black  hair  and 
beard,  an  eye  at  once  bright  and  genial,  while  his 
air  and  manners  have  a  degree  of  quiet  elegance 
and  taste  that  would  be  fully  at  home  in  the  draw- 
ing -  room.  His  voice  is  in  perfect  keeping  with  his 


IN   EUROPE    AND   THE    EAST.  229 

appearance ;  pleasant,  musical  and  well  modulated. 
He  reads  indifferently,  without  great  skill,  care  or 
unction.  The  Scripture  lesson  was  rather  heed- 
lessly and  bunglingly  brought  out ;  the  running 
comments  possessed  nothing  striking,  and  produced 
not  much  impression;  the  hymns  were  better  man- 
aged, but  were  not  at  all  vitalized  by  the  unction  of 
the  reader's  heart. 

The  sermon  was  based  on  the  passage,  "Behold, 
I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock."  The  preacher  had 
no  notes  before  him ;  and  the  sermon,  considered 
from  the  homiletical  stand  -  point,  was  lacking  in 
plan, — being  neither  philosophical  in  arrangement 
nor  exhaustive  in  its  scope.  The  thought  was  not 
remarkably  strong  nor  fresh,  the  discrimination  was 
not  always  clear,  there  was  no  deep  penetration,  no 
great  logical  vigor,  no  comprehensive  generalization, 
no  overpowering  force  of  statement,  no  master 
strokes  of  imagination.  But  there  were  great  ease 
and  self-reliance,  the  language  was  generally 
exact,  copious,  picturesque,  there  was  tact  in  the 
methods  of  address,  skill  in  ths  use  of  illustrations, 
directness  in  the  argument,  point  in  the  applications, 
fervor  in  the  appeals.  The  sermon  was  not  great, 
but  g9od;-ifnot  philosophical,  it  was  something 
better  ;  it  was  —  bating  its  Calvinism,  which  seemed 
to  be  gratuitously  thrown  in'  —  evangelical,  earnest, 
warm  -  hearted,  and  faithful  in  exalting  Christ  and 
asserting  the  sinfulness  and  peril  of  rejecting  him. 
It  was  simple  enough  for  a  child's  comprehension, 
and  yet  there  were  passages  possessing  rhetorical 


230  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

beauty  which  offered  gratification  to  cultivated 
tastes.  It  spread  no  royal  feast  for  the  intellect,  but 
it  did  what  was  far  better  and  more  legitimate,  — it 
plied  the  conscience  with  Christian  stimulants,  swept 
away  the  false  pretenses  by  means  of  which  the  in- 
tellect is  wont  to  shield  indifference,  and  by  motives 
which  appealed  to  the  sense  of  obligation  and  all 
the  better  elements  of  our  nature,  pressed  the  soul 
of  the  hearer  up  to  its  most  sacred  duty  and  its 
noblest  privilege.  Dr.  Gumming  is  more  popular 
than  many  other  men  who  wield  double  his  power, 
but  his  mind  possesses  some  sterling  qualities  and  he 
manifestly  seeks  to  use  all  the  opportunities  which 
Providence  has  coupled  with  his  abilities  and  his 
reputation,  for  the  salvation  of  men  and  the  glory  of 
his  Master. 

XII. 

LONDON,  July  6,  1866. 

The  week  spent  in  the  midland  counties  of  Eng- 
land, gave  us  time  to  see  some  of  the  finest  scenery, 
the  most  improved  agriculture,  the  most  marvelous 
manufacturing  temples,  and  the  truest  home  -  life 
which  this  renowned  island  has  to  offer. 

In  picturesqueness,  and  quiet,  subdued  beauty, 
nothing  can  well  exceed  some  of  these  landscapes 
in  the  interior  districts.  The  fields  are  smooth  like 
lawns ;  while  trees  and  hedgerows,  miniature  lakes 
and  winding  streams,  cottages  and  halls,  clustered 
villages  and  thriving  towns,  diversify  and  complete 
the  picture.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Buxton  there 
is  Switzerland  in  miniature  heights  and  precipices, 


IN    EUROPE    AND    THE    EAST. 

climbed  not  without  weariness,  fountains  leaping 
from  the  hill  -sides,  streams  hurrying  with  rush  and 
roar  to  the  plain,  caves  that  can  be  explored  only 
by  the  aid  of  torches,  and  long  tunnels  through 
which  the  railway  trains  dash  in  the  darkness,  all 
reminding  one  of  the  similar  but  greater  grandeur 
of  the  Alps. 

The  season  and  circumstances  could  have  hardly 
been  more  favorable  for  us.  The  foliage  is  grown, 
but  has  not  yet  lost  its  early  freshness  ;  the  grain 
approaches  maturity  ;  the  recent  rains  had  given  a 
clear  and  thrifty  look  to  all  the  pastures  and  hills  ; 
the  weather  was  bright  like  June  in  New  England, 
and  the  companionship,  courtesy  and  interest  of 
genuine  English  friends  gave  zest  to  every  experi- 
ence, and  would  allow  no  fine  point  of  view,  no 
notable  object,  no  historic  association,  no  interesting 
legend  to  escape  us.  We  have,  therefore,  seen  what 
is  best  and  most  beautiful  in  central  England,  and 
under  circumstances  to  give  it  full  power  ;  and  for 
myself  I  may  say  that  it  does  not  disappoint  my 
high  expectations,  and  that  is  saying  much.  Wealth 
and  taste  and  toil  have  wrought  here  for  many  cen- 
turies, and  they  have  not  wrought  in  vain.  Some 
day,  I  trust,  we  shall  add  the  beauty  of  the  English 
farm  to  the  intelligent  enterprise,  the  immense  pro- 
ductiveness and  the  growing  wealth  which  mark 
American  agriculture;  and  then  our  tillers  of  the 
soil  ought  not  to  find  it  necessary  to  "go  abroad  for 


We  are  just  now  "  doing"   London.     I  heard  last 


232  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

Sunday  three  celebrated  preachers.  In  the  morning, 
Thomas  Binney,  standing  before  us  with  Websterian 
head,  muscular  frame  and  fervid  heart,  preached  in 
a  strain  of  noble,  majestic  simplicity  that  made  me 
wonder  and  weep.  In  the  afternoon,  at  Westminster 
Abbey,  Dean  Stanley  preached  to  a  military  organi- 
zation of  volunteers,  and  so  disappointed  me  in  tone 
and  thought,  style  and  manner,  that  I  marvel  even 
now  how  he  could  put  off  his  greatness  and  be  the 
feeble,  turgid  preacher  he  was.  In  the  evening,  at 
the  chapel,  where  I  had  gone  to  listen  to  Newman 
Hall,  James  Spurgeon,  brother  of  him  of  Surrey 
Tabernacle,  preached  an  earnest,  fluent,  effective 
sermon  to  young  men ;  which  largely  made  up  in 
genuine  Christian  directness,  elevation  and  fervor 
what  it  lacked  in  originality,  plan,  and  thorough 
treatment  of  the  theme. 

I  heard  Paxton  Hood  preach  at  Ealing,  a  pleas- 
ant town  near  London,  whither  I  had  gone  to  spend 
a  day  or  two  with  some  newly  made  and  pleasant 
acquaintances.  He  was  a  poor  boy  in  his  youth,  I 
am  told,  aided  somewhat  in  his  effort  at  education 
by  a  gentleman  who  believed  that  he  detected  ele- 
ments of  unusual  promise.  But  his  first  efforts  in  the 
pulpit  were  not  at  all  encouraging.  His  hearers 
dropped  away  from  him  gradually  till  he  had  little 
besides  empty  benches  at  sermon  time ;  he  was  oc- 
cupied for  a  season  as  a  sort  of  temperance  lecturer, 
mixing  songs  into  his  addresses  as  a  means  of  keep- 
ing up  the  interest  of  an  audience  which  his 
steady  speech  was  almost  sure  to  wear}'-.  But 


IN    EUROPE    AND  THE  EAST.  233 

he  kept  on,  refusing  to   be  silent   or  discouraged. 

Mr.  Hood  is  now  the  esteemed  and  popular  pastoi 
of  a  prosperous  Baptist  congregation  at  Brighton, 
the  Newport  of  England,  and  his  literary  labors  are 
now  recognizable  in  the  world  of  letters;  he  ha? 
fairly  won  his  position  as  one  of  the  recognized 
powers  of  the  land.  There  is  little  that  is  prepos- 
sessing in  his  appearance.  Nearly  fifty  years  of 
age,  rather  spare  in  person,  having  a  narrow  and 
not  too  lofty  head,  tending  somewhat  to  baldness, 
sandy  hair  and  complexion,  careless  of  etiquette,  an 
air  half  thoughtful  and  half  abstracted,  with  a  voice 
thin,  limited  in  compass,  and  keyed  quite  too  high  to 
be  agreeable,  reading  the  Scriptures  with  an  unpar- 
donable heedlessness  of  enunciation,  though  evi- 
dently never  missing  their  meaning,  half  seeming  to 
forget  his  audience  and  to  be  not  over  mindful  of  his 
position, — such  was  Paxton  Hood  as  I  saw  him  when 
I  first  entered  the  well  filled  church  on  a  week-day 
evening.  My  friends  had  promised  me  an  able  and 
good  sermon  ;  I  hardly  dared  to  expect  it  from  the 
man  before  me,  and  imagined  it  must  be  some  other 
minister  who  was  simply  conducting  the  preliminary 
services. 

The  prayer  which  followed  the  reading  revolu- 
tionized all  my  opinions,  and  soon  made  me  glad  to 
forget  all  the  work  of  criticism.  It  was  unique,  fol- 
lowing no  model,  conforming  to  no  ideal  standard, 
but  at  once  devout,  calm,  full  of  thoughtfulness  and 
self -recollection,  confiding,  yearning,  grateful, 
sympathetic,  comprehensive  ;  coming  up  from  the 


234  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

soul-depths,  full  of  recognitions  of  God's  adaptations 
to  the  human  spirit,  touching  with  bursts  of  quiet 
pathos,  lifting  with  its  tone  of  faith,  melting  in  its 
simple  confessions,  restful  with  its  spirit  of  recon- 
ciliation and  peace.  It  was  eminently  a  prayer  —  a 
plain,  free,  sincere  talk  of  the  heart  with  God,  in 
whose  fellowship  it  had  often  found  light  and  life, 
and  was  assured  of  finding  them  again. 

The  sermon  that  followed  was  full  of  the  individ- 
ual peculiarities  of  the  man,  but  still  more  thor- 
oughly crowded  with  Christ,  who  was  eminently, 
skilfully,  impressively  preached,  as  the  Mighty  One, 
who  was  nevertheless  "  touched  with  the  feeling  of 
our  infirmities."  There  was  such  a  freshness  in  his 
methods  of  presenting  common  truths,  such  an 
ability  to  vivify  the  trite  and  familiar,  such  a  power 
to  evolve  meaning  from  and  give  dignity  to  the 
oft -repeated  phrases  of  Scripture,  and  such  an  un- 
ostentatious skill  in  picturing  to  the  life  even  the 
subtlest  of  his  ideas,  that  he  seemed  even  more 
original  than  he  was  —  and  that  is  saying  very  much 
for  his  marked  and  peculiar  originality  in  both 
thought,  style  and  manner.  The  last  would  now 
and  then  provoke  a  smile.  His  sermon  was  written 
upon  note  paper,  and  for  some  reason,  I  could 
hardly  determine  what,  he  held  it  up  in  one  hand  a 
foot  or  so  from  his  face  duringf  the  whole  time  of  the 

O 

delivery,  now  gesturing  with  it,  now  resting  the 
elbow  on  the  Bible  and  half  leaning  over  the  desk, 
but  still  keeping  the  manuscript  mostly  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  his  head,  even  when  he  went  on  for  five 


IN   EUROPE   AND    THE   EAST.  235 

successive  minutes  without  apparently  consulting  it 
at  all.  His  light  voice  pirouetted  about  in  unantici- 
pated and  undefinable  ways,  now  coming  out  steady 
and  musical,  then  suddenly  sharpening  out  to  a 
piercing  point,  then  dropping  into  huskiness,  then 
hurrying  along  with  a  zigzag  motion  to  halt  sud- 
denly in  the  middle  of  a  ringing  note. 

But  in  spite  of  it  all  and  through  it  all,  the 
preacher  went  on  steadily,  strongly,  impressively, 
gratefully  with  his  work,  intent  on  the  development 
of  his  gracious  theme  and  his  glorious  Master ;  the 
smile  which  a  moment  ago  was  provoked  by  a 
shrewd,  quaint  say  ing  or  an  odd  tone  or  gesture,  was 
followed  by  a  tear  of  penitence  or  gratitude,  or  ran 
off  into  a  freighted  sentence  of  silent  supplication. 
And  when  the  discourse  was  ended,  I  think  there 
was  hardly  one  hearer  but  went  away  feeling  that  to 
possess  Christ's  friendly  sympathy  is  the  one  great 
good  of  life,  and  that  to  lose  it  is  the  climacteric  sin 
and  curse  of  the  human  soul. 

XIII. 

LONDON,  July  16,  1866. 

I  linger  yet  in  and  about  the  great  city,  and  am 
still  far  enough  from  exhausting  it.  Its  life  spreads 
over  an  immense  area,  flows  through  almost  innu- 
merable channels,  and  comes  out  in  the  most  diver- 
sified forms  and  phases.  It  is  the  world  epitomized, 
and  its  complete  story  is  the  condensed  record  of  the 
race.  The  heroic  and  the  mean,  the  saintly  and  the 
satanic,  the  beneficent  and  the  brutal,  the  tragic 
and  the  comic,  perpetually  meet  and  mingle  in  these 


236  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

bustling  streets.  The  forms,  faces  and  movements 
frequently  hint  at  unwritten  histories  whose  simple 
portraitures  would  shame  all  high-wrought  romance. 
There  are  eyes,  now  and  then,  into  which  one  only 
needs  to  glance  to  discover  that  years  of  fruitless 
struggle  and  scores  of  disappointed  hopes  are  peer- 
ing out  through  the  mist  and  gloom,  as  convicts 
stare  listlessly  out  of  the  cells  from  which  they  are 
to  go  only  to  the  scaffold  or  the  grave.  And  there 
are  faces,  too,  resolute  with  ambition,  or  darkling 
with  revenge,  or  bold  with  defiance,  or  eager  with 
the  lines  and  play  of  cunning,  or  smirking  with  self- 
conceit,  or  restless  with  anxiety,  or  eager  for  action, 
or  beaming  with  kindly  affection,  or  calm  from 
sacred  meditation,  or  devout  and  patient  with  the 
influence  of  a  still  -  ascending  prayer. 

There  are  few  volumes  like  that  furnished  us  in 
the  thronged  streets  of  a  great  city,  where  every 
passer-by  turns  a  new  leaf,  and  every  successive 
countenance  opens  a  fresh  and  significant  para- 
graph. And  more  than  anywhere  else  in  the  world, 
perhaps,  these  streets  in  the  heart  of  London  multi- 
ply such  meditations  of  human  life. 

It  is  easier  to  form  an  opinion  respecting  the  char- 
acter of  the  people  whom  one  meets  here  than  in 
Paris.  There  is  generally  less  regard  for  mere  ap- 
pearances ;  the  real  qualities  are  likely  to  come  out 
in  some  way.  Poverty  generally  appears  poor, 
misfortune  does  not  so  generally  undertake  to  hide 
its  inward  agony,  nor  so  easily  forget  it  amid  sur- 
rounding sunshine  and  gayety.  Rags  and  beggary 


IN   EUROPE    AND    THE    EAST.  237 

seem  fully  at  home  in  the  prominent  streets,  and  the 
unwashed  fraction  of  the  passers  -  by  is  often  a 
large  one.  Misery  does  not  keep  itself  out  of  sight 
from  any  inward  pride,  shame,  timidity,  or  regard 
for  others ;  instead,  it  often  seems  bent  on  making  a 
show  of  its  agonies.  Vice,  —  in  that  saddest  of  all 
forms,  in  women  who  have  parted  with  the  refine- 
ment and  the  honor  of  their  sex — comes  out  unblush- 
ingly  at  noonday,  it  walks  the  streets  and  watches  at 
the  corners  at  night,  quite  as  often  employing  brazen 
effrontery  as  captivating  blandishment. 

Nowhere  else  have  I  seen  the  evil  and  the  good 
so  directly  and  manifestly  pitted  against  each  other. 
The  warfare  between  Satan  and  Christ  is  open  and 
undisguised.  While  the  emissaries  of  the  one  stand 
forth  in  their  own  character  and  seek  to  lead  away 
their  dupes,  the  servants  of  the  other  are  scarcely 
less  busy,  decided,  and  full  of  expedients  for  giving 
warnings  and  beckoning  the  imperiled  to  safety.  I 
have  been  greatly  interested  in  observing  the 
various  methods  adopted  by  associations  and  indi- 
viduals to  draw  the  attention  of  men  to  the  great 
themes  of  the  Gospel.  Of  course,  the  methods  may 
sometimes  lack  wisdom,  and  individuals  will  now 
and  then  display  a  zeal  wholly  wanting  in  discre- 
tion, and  which  may  work  as  much  mischief  as 
profit.  But  I  can  not  help  appreciating  the  positive, 
decided,  open,  direct,  resolute  ways  in  which  Chris- 
tians seek  to  honor  their  Master,  and  press  his  claims 
upon  the  attention  of  the  people. 

On  a  Sunday,  at  various  points  along  the  promi- 


238  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

nent  streets,  or  in  the  squares,  or  close  by  a  promi- 
nent place  of  worship,  around  which  the  people 
gather  in  advance  of  the  opening  of  the  doors, 
one  will  find  a  preacher  or  exhorter,  Bible  in 
hand,  mounted  in  a  chair,  or  on  the  steps,  or  the 
edge  of  the  side-walk,  preaching  away  to  the  score, 
or  hundred,  or  dozen,  or  one,  who  may  stop  for  a 
few  minutes  to  listen.  Some  of  these  street  preach- 
ers are,  to  be  sure,  rather  sorry  samples,  but  very 
generally  they  appear  to  be  earnest,  devoted,  pious 
men,  anxious  to  be  useful,  and  some  of  them  admi- 
rably adapted  to  rouse  the  attention  of  such  persons 
as  will  not  visit  the  sanctuary.  Sometimes  a  wag  in 
the  crowd  will  succeed  in  turning  the  solemnity  into 
farce,  or  a  shrewd  blasphemer  will  prove  too  much 
for  the  simple  -  minded  Christian  exhorter ;  but  more 
frequently  the  preacher  triumphs  in  these  colloquial 
encounters,  or  is  listened  to  with  silent  respect. 
More  or  less  of  them  are  sent  out  by  churches  and 
associations  on  these  errands ;  others,  of  course,  re- 
spond to  what  they  claim  is  an  inward  call,  or  a 
divine  commission  and  impulse. 

XIV. 

DUBLIN,  IRELAND,  Aug.  17,  1866. 
The  tour  to  the  Scottish  Highlands  has  been 
prosecuted  amid  all  sorts  of  weather  except  the  hot 
and  sultry,  and  has  brought  a  variety  of  experiences. 
Scottish  life  and  character  have  turned  many  of 
their  ordinary  and  of  their  extraordinary  phases  to- 
ward me,  and  the  most  celebrated  of  all  the  Scottish 
scenery  has  been  inspected  somewhat  in  detail. 


IN    EUROPE    AND    THE    EAST.  239 

It  is  a  peculiarity  of  mountain  scenery  that  it 
never  exactly  reproduces  itself  in  another  country. 
One  in  name  and  general  character,  mountains,  like 
great  souls,  give  us  an  endless  variety  of  combina- 
tions, specific  features  and  details.  The  Appenines 
differ  from  the  Alps,  the  desert  groups  and  ranges 
belong  to  a  family  still  more  remote,  the  chains  and 
single  heights  in  Syria  are  made  up  after  quite  an 
original  model,  the  Carpathians  have  their  own  un- 
mistakable build  and  aspect  and  expression,  and  the 
Scottish  Highlands  are  not  less  unique  than  beauti- 
ful. 

Where  the  naked  rock  appears  in  the  loftier 
heights  of  Scotland,  it  does  not  often  stand  out  bare, 
cold,  unsympathizing  and  desolate,  but  wears  a 
softened,  mellow  tint  of  gray  or  brown  or  purple. 
Sharply  cut  outlines,  and  long,  acute  angles,  and 
sheer  perpendicular  cliffs,  and  dizzy  precipices,  are 
mostly  wanting.  And  in  most  cases,  where  the 
forests  are  not  carried  to  the  summit,  the  rains,  frost, 
friction  and  sunbeams,  acting  through  so  many  cen- 
turies, have  disintegrated  the  surface  to  some  extent, 
and  formed  a  thin  soil  sufficient  to  sustain  a  simple 
vegetation,  which  overspreads  most  of  the  hills  with 
delicate  verdure  that  suggests  a  spring  robe.  The 
abundant  summer  rains  keep  the  whole  landscape 
fresh,  fill  the  gorges  and  ravines  with  brawling  tor- 
rents, decorate  the  green  slopes  with  quieter  streams 
that  wind  hither  and  thither  and  gleam  in  the  sun- 
light like  threads  of  silver,  set  the  rivulets  leaping 
again  and  again  down  the  shelving  cliffs  that  abut 


240  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

upon  the  sea,  and  so  multiply  the  gushing,  foaming, 
shouting  waters  on  every  side  that  the  very  hills  ap- 
pear as  if  bursting  into  laughter.  And  so,  all 
through  this  Highland  section,  beauty  is  forever 
wedded  to  grandeur,  the  fruitful  field  lies  in  the  lap 
of  the  towering  height,  the  lake  bears  fertile  and 
flowery  islands  on  its  bosom  as  a  bride  her  jewels, 
and  the  majesty  of  nature  is  in  sympathy  with  the 
affection  of  souls.  These  are  some  of  the  peculiar- 
ities which  mark  the  mountain  scenery  of  Scotland, 
and  lend  to  it  such  an  abiding  charm. 


VII. 

STUDIES  OF  THE  WORD  AND  LIFE. 


"  HE  BEING  DEAD  YET  SPEAKETH. " 

The  power  of  human  life  and  the  importance  of  it, 
are  only  known  when  we  see  its  whole  work,  and 
read  its  whole  history.  Of  most  lives  at  the  close, 
we  know  perhaps  only  the  least  significant  items. 
Now  and  then  a  life  stands  so  related  to  ours  that  we 
feel  its  greatness  to  be  untold.  In  many  instances 
we  see  that  the  posthumous  work  is  vast,  where  we 
did  not  freely  realize  the  working  influence. 

The  speech  of  the  dead  is  often  more  impressive 
than  any  other.  We  realize  the  worth  of  that  which 
ceases  to  be  ours.  Sanctity  attaches  to  the  append- 
ages and  words  of  the  dead.  The  utterances  are 
ended  now,  and  we  are  left  to  the  study  of  them. 

It  takes  sometimes  a  long  while  for  a  dropped 
thought  to  grow  up  into  maturity,  and  for  a  life  to 
leaven  the  souls  it  has  touched.  Great  forces  move 
slowly,  silently. 

A  man's  religion  is  the  index  to  his  real  character. 


242  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

/  There  may  be  a  real  attachment  to  God  when 
there  is  no  love  for  some  phases  of  religion, — in- 
deed, some  phases  of  religion  are  disliked  because 
the  heart  loves  God,  and  these  do  not  bear  his  like- 
ness. 

It  is  one  of  the  holiest  and  highest  forms  of  Chris- 
tian principle  that  is  seen  in  our  rallying  to  the  side 
of  a  misjudged  and  unjustly  persecuted  truth  or  be- 
ing. 


Just  in  proportion  as  men  have  looked  less  and 
less  into  the  word  of  God,  and  leaned  on  spiritual 
impressions,  their  life  has  fluctuated,  been  full  of 
inconsistencies  and  follies. 

One  of  the  common  and  sad  errors  in  church  life 
is  that  the  religious  training  of  the  young  is  con- 
sidered too  much  as  something  aside  from,  and 
added  to,  the  work  of  being  a  Christian.  Work  for 
the  young  is  the  main  work  of  the  church. 


In  order  to  high  success,  the  very  best  talent  of 
our  churches  must  be  employed  in  the  work  of  Sun- 
day school  instruction.  The  keenest  minds,  the 
most  liberal  culture,  the  highest  refinement  of  feel- 
ing, and  the  most  unwearied  perseverance  are  called 
for  in  this  sphere  of  labor.  Christianity  claims  the 
service  of  such  minds,  —  she  is  never  content  with 
the  mere  compliment  which  such  men  pay  when 
they  bow  graciously  in  her  presence.  This  duty  of 


STUDIES  OF  THE  WORD  AND  LIFE.  243 

leading  the  young  to  Christ  presses  with  peculiar 
weight  upon  us.  Till  we  feel  ourselves  set  as  guides 
to  the  cross,  and  as  having  done  really  nothing  as 
we  should,  till  we  have  brought  the  children  nearer 
to  it,  we  are  poorly  fitted  to  accomplish  the  work  of 
the  Sunday  school. 

A  true  love  of  virtue  will  awaken  whenever  vir- 
tue —  especially,  spotless  virtue  —  appears.  The 
magnet  is  drawn  most  strongly  when  the  ore  is  pure. 

The  peace  of  God  passeth  understanding,  be- 
cause, like  other  moral  elements,  its  presence  only 
can  develop  it.  Its  exposition  belongs  to  the  ex- 
periences of  the  heart,  rather  than  to  the  discerning 
intellect. 

That  Bible,  esteem  it  as  we  may,  is  a  wonderful 
phenomenon.  It  is  the  voice  of  the  past  speaking 
clearly  across  the  chasm  of  centuries.  It  is  a  sun 
lighting  up  the  temple  where  humanity  lay  in  its 
cradle,  and  was  crowned  monarch  of  all  terrestrial 
things.  Where  discovery  has  halted,  baffled  in  the 
attempt  to  trace  the  stream  of  history  back  to  its 
fountain,  this  volume  comes  to  its  relief, — reading 
off  the  story  of  nations  whose  only  monuments  are 
dust,  bridging  over  the  waters  of  the  deluge,  dig- 
ging deeper  than  where  the  lowest  page  of  Geology 
was  hidden,  and  pointing  us  to  the  emptiness  and 
desolation  that  waited  for  the  coming  of  order  and 
beauty.  Showing  us  the  childhood  of  our  race,  it 


244  GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

solves  the  strange  enigma  of  its  manhood.  It  uni- 
fies the  startling  contradictions  in  our  character 
which  all  men  see  and  feel,  by  telling  us  how 
degradation  fastened  itself  upon  our  grandeur.  All 
other  histories  begin  with  events  already  wearied 
with  their  long  and  tedious  marches  and  briefly 
halting  for  the  sake  of  repose ;  this  volume  has  its 
Genesis  and  Exodus. 

Here  is  the  world's  earliest  literature,  for  time  has 
kept  no  other.  Here  alone  do  we  catch  the  first 
thoughts  our  human  sires  had  vocalized,  and  here 
palpitate  the  earliest  emotions  that  answered  to  the 
wooing  of  good  and  evil.  Here  stand  incarnate  the 
first  passions  that  opened  the  drama  of  violence, 
whose  subsequent  tragedies  wail  through  the  lips  of 
centuries.  Here  quiver  in  their  paleness  the  first 
fears  that  guilt  created,  and  whose  wide  -  spread 
progeny  still  seek  to  hide  from  the  face  of  justice. 
Here  go  up  the  first  prayers  that  penitence  ever 
breathed,  and  the  first  triumphant  hopes  which 
God's  mercy  beckoned  to  the  sky,  and  here  the 
earliest  human  saintship  walked  meekly  among 
scoffers  until  it  rose  immortal  to  heaven. 

Over  that  book,  sage  and  child  have  sat  together, 
the  one  finding  food  for  the  most  critical  taste,  and 
drawings  to  the  loftiest  contemplation,  and  the 
other  feeling  that  there  was  syllabled  to  it 
such  soothing  and  simple  things  as  made  it 
quiet,  secure  and  satisfied  in  the  midst  of  a 
lonely  and  perilous  world.  In  the  heaven  of  hu- 
man hope,  its  promises  have  ever  beamed  as  the 


STUDIES    OF    THE    WORD    AND    LIFE.  245 

eternal  stars  ;  staggering  under  the  heaviest  burdens 
our  hearts  ever  carry,  its  speech  has  quickened  us 
into  power  and  patienca ;  by  its  halp,  men  hav3 
scaled  the  mountains  which  frowned  on  them  with  a 
"hitherto";  bewildered,  it  has  led  them  out  into 
brightness ;  it  has  taught  them  to  wait  for  the  gifts 
of  the  future  when  the  present  offered  no  reward  to 
heroism  ;  under  the  most  terrible  pressure  it  has  en- 
abled affliction  to  say,  "Even  so,  Father,  for  so 
it  seems  good  in  thy  sight ;  "  and  when  all  earthly 
sympathy  had, lost  its  power  over  the  fainting  heart, 
some  whispered  sentence,  fragrant  with  Divine  love, 
has  given  brightness  to  the  filmy  eye,  and  parted 
the  pallid  lips  with  a  holy  smile,  and  helped  the 
spirit  to  spread  its  pinions  and  wave  a  triumphant 
adieu  to  the  world. 


Christianity  allows  no  one  to  be  satisfied  with 
simply  getting  through  life  well  himself,  or  of 
simply  saving  his  own  soul. 

The  interest  in  others  never  gets  deep  enough  to 
be  Christian  until  it  works  for  their  sanctification 
through  the  truth. 

Church  life,  with  all  its  imperfection,  burden, 
difficulty,  is  to  the  true  soul  a  precious  thing. 
There  spring  up  some  of  the  sweetest  experiences, 
and  the  highest  hopes ;  around  it  linger  some  of  the 
choicest  memories.  Imperfections  and  trials  there 
are ;  so  everywhere ;  but  between  that  sphere  and 
another  which  involves  the  loss  of  all  this  growth 
and  fellowship,  the  contrast  is  great. 


246  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

/The  only  safety  in  our  growing  wealth  is  a 
growth  of  self-sacrifice,  charity  and  benevolence; 
these  are  the  only  shields  against  the  peril ;  the  only 
alchemy  that  transmutes  the  fixed  temptation  into  a 
blessing;  the  only  way  to  change  the  cheat  and 
bogus  into  the  genuine  coin  of  soul  -  wealth. 


Can  I  be  willing  to  please  you  merely ;  to  gain 
your  sympathy ;  to  buy  your  smiles  and  your  good 
will ;  to  ask  what  you  would  like  rather  than  what 
you  need?  God  forgive  me  if  my  selfish  aims 
make  me  unfaithful ;  if  ever,  in  coveting  your  ap- 
proval of  my  sermon,  I  be  careless  about  your 
welfare  and  recreant  to  my  duty  and  vows.  I  would 
not  pain  you  needlessly,  never  censure  from  love  of 
rebuking,  or  the  gratification  of  feeling ;  but  Heaven 
keep  me  from  pressing  out  of  sight  the  guilt  of  your 
sins,  or  the  peril  of  your  unsubdued  hearts  ;  a  peril 
which  God  in  his  mercy  has  anointed  my  eyes  to 
see  and  set  me  here  to  preach. 

Bring  the  highest  religious  motives  to  bear  upon 
your  child's  life.  It  will  appreciate  them.  All  else 
is  too  weak  for  your  purpose.  Especially  teach  ac- 
countability to  God. 

The  question  to  be  asked  is  not  what  do  we  be- 
lieve, but  what  is  truth.  Our  beliefs  do  not  change 
that;  and  it  will  make  itself  seen  and  felt  some 
time. 

Men  are  inclined  to  apologize  for  what  they  prac- 


STUDIES    OF   THE   WORD   AND   LIFE.  247 

tice — to  make  their  verdicts  correspond  with  their 
doings.  Many  are  glad  to  find  a  reason  for  disbe- 
lieving Christianity  because  an  admission  of  its  worth 
and  authority  is  equivalent  to  a  confession  of  their 
own  guilt  and  peril.  They  are  willing,  if  not  anx- 
ious, to  hear  suspicion  thrown  on  the  Gospel, — list- 
en eagerly  to  stale  objections  a  hundred  times  an- 
swered ;  exult  in  the  faults  of  professors.  And  in 
this  way,  little  by  little,  the  reverence  for  sacred 
things  departs,  the  power  of  the  truth  is  weakened, 
and  men  seek  freedom  from  the  disquiet  of  God's 
voice  by  resolutely  doubting  whether  he  has 
spoken. 

We  talk  of  fighting  in  order  to  get  rid  of  moral 
foes,  of  running  to  keep  away  from  powerful  tempt- 
ers. But  there  is  often  more  struggle  required  to 
go  to  perdition  than  to  heaven ;  more  to  keep  a  con- 
science drugged  than  pure. 

That  living  Saviour  is  here.  To  say  that  is  to  do 
the  highest  thing  connected  with  our  ministry. 
You  need  not  feel  orphaned  and  forgotten.  He 
comes  and  asks  if  you  will  be  his,  and  let  him  be- 
come the  inspiration  of  your  life.  Tear  down  every 
barrier,  strike  hands  with  him,  rely  on  his  help,  and 
you  shall  have  life, —  life  more  abundantly. 

Those  who  dignify  the  common  spheres  of  duty 
with  the  Christian  spirit,  make  each  daily  duty  a 
testimony  for  Christ.  Each  trial  meekly  borne 


GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

bears  witness  how  God  may  honor  the  human  soul 
and  make  common  paths  radiant.  We  need  to 
have  our  common  life  lifted  up  and  lighted  with 
sanctity. 

Oh,  if  all  effort  were  fully  sanctified  with  the 
thought,  "  These  are  done  for  Christ,"  we  should  be 
always  tarrying  in  the  temple ;  each  daily  task 
would  be  a  handful  of  incense  flung  into  the  censer ; 
and  each  word  of  love  spoken  with  a  blessing  in  it, 
would  be  the  key  note  of  a  psalm. 

Lay  your  finger  of  self-  denial  on  the  lip  when  a 
passionate  tone  leaps  up  from  within ;  crush  into 
quietude  the  selfish  propensity  that  struggles  for  a 
moment's  rule  ;  carry  out  the  perfect  work  of  pa- 
tience when  petty  perplexities  are  stinging  every 
nerve ;  turn  wrath  away  with  a  soft  answer ;  bear 
each  dull  affection  up  to  God  in  prayer  that  he  may 
quicken  it  with  a  touch  ;  show  the  souls  that  are  so 
burdened  they  can  not  look  up,  or  so  benighted 
they  can  not  see,  the  way  to  the  Giver  of  light  and 
the  Receiver  of  burdens  ;  sit  down  before  any  little 
wondering  child  you  meet,  lead  its  thought  gently 
up  to  the  Saviour ;  fill  the  bony  hands  of  want ; 
show  waywardness  the  sanctity  of  wise  counsel ; 
teach  earthly  spirits  how  pure  and  holy  things  may 
be  made  to  nestle  in  their  chambers ;  let  cheerful- 
ness beam  from  your  face  and  tone  in  the  path  of 
sad  souls ;  walk  humbly  and  faithfully  with  God  in 
your  own  sphere :  do  all  this  as  your  best  gift  to 
goodness,  your  highest  work  for  God  and  men. 


STUDIES    OF    THE    WORD    AND    LIFE.  249 

Toleration  of  religion  on  the  ground  of  indiffer- 
ence and  stupidity  is  contemptible.  Some  men 
lend  au  equal  endorsement  to  everything  religious 
because  they  do  not  know  nor  care  about  any  religion 
at  all.  None  of  the  religious  sentiments  are  impor- 
tant enough  to  be  plead  for,  contended  for,  defend- 
ed. Simply  a  want  of  life  explains  this  form  of 
charity.  Sometimes  earnestness  in  religion  is  only 
a  quarrel  with  all  religion. 


The  Christian  spirit  is  one  everywhere, —  in  pul- 
pit and  pews,  in  apostle  .and  child,  in  the  first  cen- 
tury and  in  the  nineteenth.  I  have  no  doubt  that  a 
piety  deep  and  fervent  as  Paul's  still  walks  the 
earth  and  talks  with  Heaven.  Lives  whose  stories 
were  never  told  to  the  public  have  the  same  kind  of 
heroism,  and  a  faith  that  stands,  without  faltering, 
the  friction  of  as  fierce  trials.  Spheres,  circumstan- 
ces and  duties  differ,  but  the  religious  spirit  begot- 
ten by  the  Gospel  is  forevermore.  Natures  may  be 
nervous  or  quiet ;  one's  impulses  may  be  like  a  tem- 
pest seldom  sleeping ;  another  may  be  specially  de- 
liberate ;  but  though  there  be  diversities  of  gifts 
and  temperaments  and  aspirations,  there  is  but  one 
and  the  self-  same  spirit  begotten  and  revealed  by 
Christianity. 

Trust  not  merely  in  the  triumph  of  a  party,  nor 
in  the  seeming  triumph  of  a  principle.  Watch  over 
it,  that  it  may  not  suffer  defeat.  If  the  party  lose 


250  GEORGE  TIFFANY  DAY. 

the  principle,  it  will  perish.  Do  not  be  deterred 
from  standing  for  justice  by  the  bread  and  butter 
argument. 


Every  man  may  help  the  nation.  Be  righteous 
and  it  may  be  better  than  to  hold  an  office.  In  your 
own  sphere  cling  to  principle  and  equity  at  all  haz- 
ards, taking  any  temporary  losses  that  may  come, 
never  doubting  that  triumph  is  thus  to  be  won. 

However  we  may  throw  off  allegiance,  we  can 
not  annul  the  law  nor  take  ourselves  from  beneath 
its  authority.  The  tribunal  stands ;  the  legislator 
and  judge  still  keeps  his  seat;  the  misread  deca- 
logue is  in  force  ;  we  shall  be  tried  by  the  change- 
less standard. 

How  much  has  been  done  for  many  of  us. 
Hymns,  pleadings,  prayers,  sanctuaries,  memories 
of  sainted  ones,  wooings  of  the  Spirit,  promises  of 
Jesus,  calls  of  God  !  What  have  we  brought  forth? 
Amiability,  kindness,  integrity.  But  are  these 
more  than  the  wild  grapes?  Where  is  the  choice 
fruit,  the  Christian  clusters  ? 


There  needs  to  be  sought  and  gained,  the  spirit 
that  deliberately  chooses  God,  duty,  and  toilsome 
usefulness,  whether  there  shall  be  fine  sentiment, 
poetry  and  gladness  in  them,  or  whether  they  shall 
involve  walking  in  darkness  and  bearing  a  heavy 
cross.  Not  fine  sentiment,  but  a  consecrated  soul ; 


STUDIES    OF   THE   WORD    AND    LIFE.  251 

not  a  tearful  or  a  jubilant  human  sympathy,  but  a 
settling  into  Christian  faith  and  principle  ;  not  vehe- 
ment pleas,  but  a  hearty  alliance  of  the  whole  nature 
with  the  redeeming  Christ,  to  live  in  and  work  with 
him  for  the  highest  welfare  of  men, —  these  are  the 
things  that  prove  our  prayers  genuine  and  set  forth 
the  real  fruits  which  the  week  of  prayer  was  meant 
to  offer. 


If  there  is  one  truth  in  the  Bible  more  clear  and 
unquestionable  than  another,  it  is  God's  love  to 
man.  And  if  the  Bible  makes  one  duty  of  man 
more  imperative  than  another,  it  is  the  duty  of  love 
to  God.  If  we  love  him,  we  shall  try  to  please  him. 
And  our  aspirations  may  not  only  rest  in  hope ; 
they  may  be  full  of  assurance,  for,  with  the  help  we 
may  receive,  it  is  no  difficult  task  to  please  him. 

But  it  is  asked,  How  shall  I  please  God?  Lov- 
ing him  with  all  the  heart  and  our  neighbor  as  our- 
self,  can  not  fail  to  please  him ;  nor  when  we  re- 
pent of  sin,  trust  in  the  merits  of  his  Son  for  salva- 
tion, and  praise  the  Father  for  all  his  wonderful 
dealings  with  us.  And  never,  perhaps,  is  he  better 
pleased  than  when,  in  the  spirit  of  Christ,  we  do 
good  to  others  as  we  have  opportunity. 

It  is  by  maintaining  a  constant  communion  with 
God  that  we  best  learn  how  to  please  him.  With- 
out this  acquaintance  ever  fresh  and  intimate,  we 
are  continually  forgetting  our  duties  to  him.  How 
appropriate  the  admonition,  "  Acquaint  now  thyself 
with  him  and  be  at  peace ;  thereby  good  shall  come 


252  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

unto  thee."  Just  as  we  may  be  more  successful  in 
pleasing  our  friends,  the  more  intimate  our  acquaint- 
ance with  them,  so,  as  we  seek  a  closer  acquaint- 
ance with  God,  the  more  acceptable  can  we  render 
our  service. 

Some  souls  seem  especially  dowered  by  Provi- 
dence with  great  affectional  wealth.  The  sunshine 
abounds  within,  so  that  it  irradiates,  their  faces.  It 
puts  music  into  their  voices.  Their  very  presence 
is  felt  like  summer  airs.  There  is  a  whole  sermon 
of  comfort  in  their  glance.  The  silent  pressure  of 
their  hands  is  more,  in  encouragement  and  sympa- 
thy, than  the  profuse  words  and  ample  gifts  of  oth- 
ers. Blessed  are  such  souls  !  Thrice  blessed  are 
they  when  the  Spirit  of  Christ  has  come  in  to  sanc- 
tify and  lift  up  their  natural  affection !  Thrice 
blessed  are  they  to  whom  the  ministry  of  such  nat- 
ures daily  comes  I 


We  pray,  perhaps,  for  faith,  for  love,  for  earnest- 
ness, for  courage,  for  spiritual  skill,  for  the  best 
sort  of  power  over  others.  But  to  nurture  faith,  we 
must  search  out  and  bring  home  the  convincing 
truth.  To  gain  and  keep  Jove,  we  must  cast  out 
hatreds  and  put  down  resentments.  Earnestness 
depends  on  our  active  alliance  with  a  great  truth  or 
cause.  Courage  is  born  of  resolute  and  victorious 
endeavor.  Only  thoughtful  and  patient  effort 
brings  skill.  Till  we  speak  out  of  a  living  convic- 
tion and  have  a  character  for  integrity  and  consist- 


STUDIES    OF    THE    WORD    AND    LIFE.  253 

ency  behind  our  words  and  deeds,  we  shall  seek  in 
vain  to  be  leaders  of  our  fellows.  So  that,  if  there 
be  no  willingness  to  enter  upon  this  larger,  intenser, 
costlier  effort,  the  heart  will  still  be  empty,  the  life 
continue  barren,  and  even  prayer  will  be  likely 
to  come  back  in  mocking  and  reproachful  echoes. 

It  is  well  to  pray  for  this  richer,  deeper,  better, 
truer  life.  But  when  it  becomes  plain  that  this 
means  breaking  off  worldly  habits,  taking  heavier 
burdens,  casting  away  selfish  aims,  taking  up  neg- 
lected duties,  walking  in  purity  before  men,  spurn- 
ing illicit  gains  and  debasing  pleasures, —  it  is  time 
to  stop  and  ask  whether  the  prayer  can  be  honestly 
offered  again,  till  the  heart  is  ready  to  surrender  its 
hesitation  and  the  hands  are  willing  to  reach  out  the 
price  of  the  blessing.  Such  a  surrender  and  dedi- 
cation may  tax  the  soul's  full  strength,  but  the  ser- 
vice will  prove  a  blessed  one,  and  the  gain  that 
comes  of  it  and  after  it,  will  represent  the  true  and 
eternal  riches. 

Joining  the  church  is  not  the  ending  of  Christian 
responsibility.  One  does  not  carry  his  finished 
duty  there.  It  is  not  a  mere  asylum  where  the  in- 
mates, retiring  from  labor  and  turmoil,  are  to  be 
nursed  and  cared  for,  and  saved  from  all  future 
struggle,  and  burden,  and  responsibility.  One 
goes  there  as  into  an  organized  company  of  work- 
ers, to  accept  the  great  service  of  life,  learn  to  do  it 
in  a  wise  way,  and  find  such  stimulants  and  aids  as 
will  most  strongly  assure  its  accomplishment.  He 


254  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

goes  not  simply  to  get,  but  still  more  to  give.  He 
may  indeed  take  whatever  of  light,  moral  security, 
peace,  comfort,  and  quickening  the  church  offers. 
This  indeed  is  both  his  privilege  and  duty.  But  it 
is  chiefly  as  a  helper  of  his  associates  and  an  added 
item  of  moral  power,  that  his  coming  should  be  a 
grateful  thing  both  to  him  and  to  others. 


It  was  a  suggestive  sight,  the  other  bitterly  cold 
morning,  to  see  the  firemen  coming  home  from  a 
long  and  hard  fight  with  the  flames,  with  clothing 
nearly  covered  with  crackling  ice  that  had  frozen 
upon  it  while  they  worked.  At  first  view,  it  seemed 
as  though  the  frosty  air  had  chilled  all  the  life  in 
the  frame,  and  made  it  powerless  for  service.  But 
it  was  not  so.  The  ice  was  only  on  the  surface. 
Beyond  this,  there  was  a  warm  heart  beating  with 
high  resolve ;  there  were  nerves  that  tingled  even 
to  the  fingers'  ends  as  the  soul  rose  to  meet  the  peril 
and  master  it.  Under  the  icy  habit  that  crackled 
with  every  movement  of  the  limbs,  there  was  a  gen- 
uine man,  nobly  doing  and  daring  for  the  sake  of 
human  welfare,  as  only  a  brave  and  noble  man  can, 
and  all  the  more  actively  because  of  the  outward 
chill. —  It  is  well  for  Christians  to  learn  a  lesson 
from  the  picture.  The  frost  of  unfavorable  circum- 
stances, of  difficulty,  of  disaster,  of  defeat,  may  en- 
fold us,  so  that  outwardly  they  suggest  winter  and 
death ;  but  the  ice  can  be  kept  at  the  surface ;  the 
vital  energy  may  yet  be  active  at  the  center ;  it  may 
be  December  without,  but  we  can  still  have  June 


STUDIES    OF    THE    WORD    AND    LIFE.  255 

in  the  soul.  Happy  are  they  whose  inward  life  is 
so  fed  from  above,  and  kept  in  such  constant  activ- 
ity by  faithfulness,  that  the  frost  only  touches  the 
garments  and  leaves  the  heart  aflame. 

Serving  the  public  is  not  always  yielding  to  its 
whims,  caprices,  going  with  it  to  destruction ;  cer- 
tainly not  in  buying  it  off  from  earnest  work  by 
loaves  and  fishes,  or  shams.  Not  in  appealing  to  its 
pocket  to  keep  it  from  doing  the  great  work  God  is 
pressing  it  to  perform.  Not  in  singing  its  forces  to 
sleep,  nor  teaching  it-  how  to  escape  all  heroic  ser- 
vice. Be  right,  against  the  world,  true  to  convic- 
tion in  all  peril.  Service  to  society  can  not  be 
true  and  large  save  as  we  are  right  and  Christian. 
We  give  what  we  are  —  only  that.  Being  right, 
society  will  feel  us  strongly  and  well.  Every  high 
character  and  noble  life,  is  a  true  gift  for  the  enrich- 
ment of  society. 

A  true  ministry  is  a  power.  It  must  break  a  long, 
deep,  moral  sleep,  and  rouse  to  genuine  life  those  who 
are  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins.  It  is  set  not  only 
for  the  conversion,  but  for  the  training  of  men ;  not 
to  answer  an  objection  to  the  intellect,  nor  soften 
an  icy  heart,  nor  direct  a  wayward  will.  It  must  do 
all  these,  and  so  it  must  be  a  varied  power,  such  as 
resides  in  a  well  -  balanced  and  well  -  trained  soul. 
It  is  not  merely  to  teach  a  child  how  to  pray,  or  a 
dying  old  man  to  confess  that  a  worldly  career 
brings  only  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit,  but  to 


256  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

build  up  the  early  prayerfulness  into  mature  Chris- 
tian faith,  and  make  the  death  of  the  white  -  haired 
man,  like  the  sunset  of  a  harvest  day.  It  is  not 
simply  to  regulate  and  chasten  men's  Sunday  wor- 
ship, but  to  consecrate  all  their  week-  day  life. 
Not  only  is  it  to  look  after  individual  lives,  but  to  in- 
form all  the  great  forces  that  throb  in  society  with 
the  Christian  influence,  until  "  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of 
his  Christ." 

There  is  not  one  element  of  power,  from  the  mar- 
tyr's faith,  the  prophet's  vision,  the  soldier's  courage, 
the  laborer's  muscle,  but  finds  here  sphere  and 
scope.  If  it  be  said  :  "  The  power  is  of  God  ;  "  yes, 
but  it  uses  human  arms  and  pours  life  through 
human  channels  not  palsied  and  shrunken.  If  it 
be  said  that  learning  may  lean  upon  attainments, 
and  position  may  trust  in  its  prestige  ;  but  so  may 
ignorance  fall  back  on  its  self-  conceit,  and  obscu- 
rity may  call  its  impudent  volubility  a  sacred  inspi- 
ration. The  pride  of  the  one  and  the  mock  humility 
of  the  other  are  alike  weapons  of  weakness  and 
folly. 

There,  is  no  working  in  a  high  and  true  way 
without  a  plan.  Random  service  is  sure  to  be  im- 
perfect and  unsatisfactory  service.  We  do  not  stum- 
ble into  success.  Work  must  be  based  upon  princi- 
ple, not  expediency ;  must  be  persistent  and  on  a 
continuous  line  ;  energized  by  the  conviction  that  if 
it  is  true,  it  can  not  fail. 


STUDIES    OF    THE    WORD    AND    LIFE.  257 

It  is  conscious  sympathy  with  a  personal  God, 
that  is  wanted ;  not  trust  in  the  order  of  Providence, 
but  faith  in  God ;  not  a  merciful  order,  but  a  forgiv- 
ing Christ;  not  an  approval  from  a  principle  of 
righteousness,  but  the  blessed  well  -  done  of  Jeho- 
vah. 

Waiting  on  the  Lord  is  not  waiting  for  him  to 
come  and  do  our  work,  nor  waiting  for  him  to  come 
and  make  it  perfectly  easy  for  us.  A  courageous 
and  waiting  patience  is  often  the  highest  kind  of 
strength  which  God  gives. 


One  of  the  essential  conditions  of  bringing  out 
the  highest  results  in  character  and  life,  is  the  thor- 
ough identification  of  a  soul  with  a  great  principle 
or  cause. 


-'  It  is  a  wicked  cynicism  that  never  looks  at  the 
world  save  to  scowl  on  it ;  and  he  is  an  arrant  cow- 
ard who  runs  away  from  it  into  the  cell  or  monas- 
tery  for  the  sake  of  safety  and  relief.  The  world  is 
meant  to  give  the  training  for  a  better  life.  The 
loves  which  fashion  homes  and  then  -flourish  in 
them  ;  the  cares  that  make  us  vigilant ;  the  interests 
that  forbid  negligence ;  the  honest  gains  which  our 
enterprise  brings  to  bless  us ;  the  rights  we  struggle 
for,  that  teach  our  consciences  discrimination  —  alL 
these  are  meant  to  build  us  up  into  something  no- 
bler and  better,  and  make  us  familiar  with  the  high- 
er life  and  the  things  above.  This  is  God's  worldr 


258  GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

and  he  has  placed  us  in  it  to  keep,  improve  and 
love  it. 

Great  results  are  the  fruits  of  steady  and  patient 
forces.  A  comet  may  startle,  but  the  sun  is  the  real 
benefactor.  Men  gape  at  pyrotechnics,  but  naviga- 
tors regulate  the  movements  of  ten  thousand  ships 
by  the  inspection  of  the  constellations  that  hang 
silent  through  generations.  Ten  thousand  novels 
keep  young  persons  awake  of  nights  when  they 
ought  to  be  resting,  but  they  are  soon  forgotten  ;  the 
Bible  lives  on  as  teacher  and  comforter  for  genera- 
tions. And  when  souls  are  smitten  into  dumbness 
-or  despair  they  turn  to  it  for  light  and  solace. 

We  often  greatly  mistake  the  times  and  condi- 
tions of  our  spiritual  progress.  A  storm,  a  battle, 
.a  fighting  with  unsubdued  foes  not  yet  dislodged 
from  the  citadel  of  the  heart, —  these  are  discourag- 
ing things,  and  we  only  wish  and  long  to  get  be- 
yond them.  Whereas  they  may  be  hastening  the 
coming  of  that  higher  light  and  life  which  we  have 
long  prayed  for,  and  long  hoped  to  see. 


They  abuse  society  who  turn  cynics  and  become 
blind  to  every  bright  and  good  thing,  because  of 
some  disappointing  experiences ;  treating  every- 
body as  rascals.  This  often  passes  for  profound 
knowledge  of  human  nature, —  it  usually  is  a 
shameful  self-  revelation. — As  magnets  attract  iron 
and  carrion  draws  buzzards,  so  a  cynic  attracts  evil. 


STUDIES    OF    THE    WORD    AND    LIFE.  259 

This  is  often  contagious.  Young  men  dread  to  be 
thought  green  and  simple,  and  go  into  the  field  to 
ripen,  but  ripeness  like  that  is  rotten. 

No  man  is  in  his  right  mind  who  suffers  perpetual 
disquietude  without  asking  the  cause  ;  who  carries 
the  daily  sense  of  sin  and  yet  never  earnestly  seeks 
its  removal ;  knows  he  leaves  the  noblest  part  of  the 
soul  unschooled  and  yet  goes  on  thus  delinquent ; 
knows  his  aims  are  all  too  low  and  unworthy,  and 
yet  does  not  make  them  higher ;  knows  his  influence 
lacks  the  essential  element,  and  does  not  seek  that ; 
suffers  self-  reproach,  and  yet  is  busy  searching  for 
apologies  instead  of  trying  to  get  rightly  rid  of  the 
conviction. 


Piety  is  a  manly  thing, —  adapted  to  a  throne, — 
the  grandest  thing.  David's  civil  rule  is  mostly  for- 
gotten, but  thousands  who  know  nothing  of  his 
character  and  work  as  a  mler,  treasure  his  doctrinal 
Psalms  in  the  sanctuary  of  the  heart.  A  worship- 
per of  God,  he  is  immortal.  His  prayers  still  wres- 
tle with  Heaven  in  the  outpouring  of  millions  of 
hearts,  and  his  songs  are  wings  bearing  the  love 
and  faith  of  the  world  to  the  sky. 

What  a  rebuke  to  the  upstart  wisdom  of  an  age 
that  covets  distinction,  and  sees  the  path  of  strength 
in  sneering  at  Godliness.  Only  the  smallest  frac- 
tion of  all  the  names  who  have  sought  to  bury  the 
Bible  have  been  preserved;  the  simplest  prayer  - 
strain  or  song  of  the  monarch  Psalmist  makes  the 


26O  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

air  of  continents  fragrant.  "  The  righteous  shall  be 
held  in  everlasting  remembrance,  but  the  name  of 
the  wicked  shall  rot." 

Competence  and  plenty  are  matters  of  the  heart 
rather  than  of  taxable  property.  It  depends  on  our 
moral  state  whether  there  is  real  heart  plenty  or  not. 

The  religion  made  up  of  feeling  happy,  simply, 
is  a  poor  affair.  Happiness  is  the  blossom  of  work ; 
the  natural  and  grand  result  of  a  true  work. 


We  have  no  right  to  refrain  from  all  prominent  ser- 
vice because  not  appreciated,  or  criticised,  or  en- 
vied,—  because  everybody  does  not  praise  us,  or 
confess  our  superiority. 


Walk  humbly  with  God,  lovingly  with  men. 
Count  meekness  nobility.  Weave  a  chaplet  of  self- 
denials  ;  they  shine  on  the  brow  above  gems,  or 
gold  of  Ophir.  Be  more  earnest  to  serve  others 
than  to  be  served  by  them  ;  so  shall  you  rule  in  the 
empire  of  love.  Helping  others  upward  is  the  only 
way  to  rise.  Put  honor  upon  others  and  it  shall  dig- 
nify yourselves. 


They  who  are  always  asking  if  one  can  not  be  a 
Christian  and  do  this  doubtful  thing,  or  neglect  that 
required  service,  must  learn  that  an  accepted  life  is 
one  that  is  anxious  to  do  not  the  least  but  most  work 
possible,  for  Christ's  honor. 


STUDIES   OF   THE   WORD   AND    LIFE.  261 

'  It  is  always  a  most  grateful  thing  to  find  gentle 
affections  and  quick  sympathies  associated  with  a 
royal  intellect  and  a  kingly  strength  and  majesty. 
Now  and  then  a  man  may  think  of  these  as  elements 
of  weakness,  but  no  true  critic  will  take  any  such 
view. 

Seek  usefulness  chiefly,  not  supremacy  and  dis- 
tinction on  the  one  hand,  nor  obscurity  and  irre- 
sponsible position  on  the  other.  Learn  to  be  con- 
tent with  usefulness,  not  demanding  distinction  and 
compliment  in  order  to  work. 

Ask  not  chiefly  what  is  pleasant,  but  what  is  right 
and  duty. 


Delay  to  seek  Christ  is  an  endorsement  of  our 
past  sins  as  well  as  the  endorsement  of  the  sins  of 
all  others  who  are  reached  by  our  influence. 


To  flee  before  the  assumptions  of  evil  may  pass 
for  shrewdness  now  ;  hereafter  it  will  wear  another 
name.  However  a  man  may  thrive  on  expedients 
for  a  time,  he  is  damned  by  having  "  trimmer"  put 
on  his  tombstone.  The  verdict  of  righteousness  gets 
itself  impressively  rendered  by  and  by. 


The  servant  of  duty,  alone,  wins  a  place  in  the 
temple  built  to  heroism. 


Only  by  opposition  to  an  evil  can  we  avoid  co  - 
operation  with  it. 


262  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

;  Not  a  few  do  nothing  on  the  pretense  of  fearing  a 
ilure.     As  if  d 
kind  of  a  failure. 


failure.     As  if  doing   nothing  were  not  the  worst 


Men  talk  about  deliberating  well  before  assuming 
the  responsibilities  of  disciples  and  friends  ;  is  there 
not  more  need  of  deliberating  well  before  they  con- 
sent to  take  and  keep  the  position  of  foes? 


Religious  teaching  must  be  varied,  as  Scripture 
teaching  is.  To  preach  a  system,  is  not  always 
effectually  preaching  the  Gospel. 

There  is  no  choice  between  doing -a  thing  directly 
ourselves,  and  electing  or  lifting  another  man  up 
when  we  know  he  will  do  it. 

It  is  objected  by  politicians  that  ministers  should 
not  touch  politics.  They  are  easily  gulled,  it  is 
said,  are  simple, —  do  not  understand  party  tactics, 
—  soil  themselves  with  its  filth.  After  saying  this,  I 
should  suppose  any  one  would  blush  to  confess  him- 
self a  politician. 


We  have  no  right  to  have  political  principles 
whose  promotion  requires  morality  to  be  trampled 
down. 


Religious  virtue  thrives  only  on  religious  truth. 
He  is  the  most  stable  and  consistent  Christian  who 
has  pushed  his  researches  farthest  into  the  sphere 


STUDIES    OF    THE    WORD   AND    LIFE.  263 

of  divine  things,  provided  he  has  suffered  them  to 
exert  their  proper  practical  effect. 

He  who  comes  out  from  the  halls  of  learning  with 
his  heart  beating  no  more  warmly  and  sympatheti- 
cally over  human  want  and  woe,  has  either  been 
trained  under  a  system  of  education  that  is  unde- 
serving the  name,  or  has  perverted  the  great  instru- 
mentalities which  have  been  brought  to  bear  upon 
him.  It  is  the  true  office  of  education  to  socialize, 
not  to  isolate ;  to  make  philanthropists,  not  aristo- 
crats. 


Many  in  heaven  have  been  dwellers  here  with  us, 
have  passed  through  the  same  conflicts  —  nay,  have 
sat  by  our  firesides  —  have  bowed  at  the  mercy  - 
seat  with  us,  have  blessed  us  with  their  last  word, 
have  carried  away  half  our  hopes  and  hearts  with 
them.  Their  memory  is  a  chastening  influence ; 
their  recollected  words  and  virtues  are  our  daily 
teachers  and  comforters ;  they  seem  nearer  to  us, 
often,  than  those  whose  hands  we  daily  clasp, — 
more  sympathies  are  attached  to  them  than  perhaps 
to  any  earthly  friend — we  would  leap  to  their  em- 
brace. How  eminently  we  and  they  are  one  I 

One  of  the  greatest  and   most  common  perils  is 
that  springing  from  an  accepted  life  of  routine. 

Art  has  struggled  to  exhibit  the  dead  Christ  in  the 
marble  and  on  the  canvas.     Romanism  hangs  him 


264  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

up  before  all  her  altars,  and  it  is  not  strange  that  the 
heart  feels  the  violence  done  it  and  craves  the  mild, 
pure,  loving  face  of  the  virgin  by  his  side.  "  Not 
here  but  risen,"  is  the  voice  we  need  to  hear.  These 
symbols  are  meant  to  make  us  tender,  but  their  min- 
istry will  be  brief  and  slight  if  they  do  not  point  us 
beyond  the  darkness,  within  which  they  take  us,  and 
show  us  the  everlasting  brightness  out  into  which 
the  conqueror  passed. 


In  regard  to  my  preaching,  I  have  done  just  what 
I  thought  was  wisest ;  have  called  your  attention  to 
just  those  views  of  the  Gospel  which  I  thought  were 
needful.  I  have  sought  to  avoid  two  extremes,  — 
the  making  of  our  petty  experiment  as  a  community, 
the  staple  of  my  sermons ;  and  the  dealing  with  re- 
ligion in  so  abstract  a  way  that  nobody  should  feel 
that  they  were  meant.  I  have  dealt  with  principles  ; 
for  only  as  these  are  understood  and  embraced  can 
any  gain  be  assured.  I  have  discussed  public 
wrongs,  not  at  all  deterred  because  they  are 
labelled  political ;  and  I  shall  do  just  so  again  when- 
ever I  think  it  needful.  To  suppose  that  each  and 
all  of  you,  have  approved  my  choice  and  manner, 
is  not  consistent;  to  suppose  that  I  have  always 
chosen  most  wisely  would  be  high  egotism. 

There  is  danger  of  thinking  that  the  redemption 
of  the  world  depends  on  our  type  of  piety  becom- 
ing universal. 


STUDIES    OF    THE    WORD    AND    LIFE.  265 

The  germs  of  the  worst  characters  lie  in  human 
nature,  not  only  at  its  average  level,  but  even  at  its 
highest.  He  who  knows  himself  best  sees  most 
cause  for  self-  distrust.  The  purest  spirit  still  shows 
its  earthly  affinities.  Even  more  than  others,  he 
who  laughs  at  moral  danger  is  liable  to  be  the  next 
victim,  and  he  who  thinketh  he  standeth  may  well 
take  heed  lest  he  fall. 

But  there  is  another  view  that  is  proper  to  be 
taken.  That  view  is  given  us  when  we  see  the  soul 
at  its  best,  and  let  it  impress  us  with  its  grand  possi- 
bilities. 

There  are  such  seasons  in  the  experience  of  all 
true  and  trustful  men  and  women.  To  some  they 
are  more  frequent,  to  others  more  rare.  But  it  is 
difficult  if  not  impossible  to  find  a  real  Christian  who 
does  not  know  of  them. 

There  is  a  plant  which  blossoms  once  in  a  hun- 
dred years.  Like  it,  the  soul  blossoms  now  and 
then,  to  show  its  capacities,  to  assert  its  grandeur, 
to  prophesy  its  wondrous  future.  And  this  is  the 
lesson  to  be  learned  from  these  exhibitions  of  the 
soul  at  its  best.  We  see  what  great  forces  it  carries 
even  when  they  lie  latent ;  what  a  real  majesty  be- 
longs to  its  structure  even  when  it  is  veiled ;  what  a 
wealth  of  experience  it  may  claim  even  when  life 
seems  prosy ;  what  a  song  it  has  the  ability  to  swell 
even  when  its  lips  are  silent ;  how  it  may  be  at  home 
amid  the  splendor  of  heaven  even  when  it  sits  be- 
wildered in  the  earthly  darkness.  And,  possessing 
such  a  soul,  one  may  well  keep  it  from  earthliness, 


266  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

even  though  it  requires  hard  and  constant  work,  and 
comfort  himself  with  a  brave  hope  even  when  its 
weaknesses  will  not  be  hidden,  and  when  every  step 
leads  over  a  path  that  is  rough  and  painful.  Climb- 
ing upward  and  living  truly,  its  goal  is  the  perfect 
life  and  its  coronation  is  sure. 


Blessed  are  they  who  carry  a  winning  Christian 
grace  that  makes  godliness  seem  not  less  attractive 
than  sacred,  and  blends  the  beauty  of  holiness  with 
the  homelike  affection  of  the  human  heart.  And 
blessed,  too,  are  they  who  are  acted  on  by  such  ex- 
amples of  piety  and  such  helpers  to  the  soul's  Re- 
deemer. 


The  Scriptures  speak  of  "  Christ  in  you,  the 
hope  of  glory;"  "Christ  formed  in  you ;"  having 
"  his  abode"  with  and  in  the  saints;  of  their  being 
"  partakers  of  the  divine  nature."  What  can  this 
mean?  It  is  more  than  to  have  him  for  our  Leader, 
King  or  Ruler ;  more  than  to  accept  his  doctrines 
and  believe  his  promises.  It  is  a  reception  of  the 
personal  qualities  of  his  heart;  his  love  becomes 
our  love ;  the  moral  impulses  of  his  soul,  so  rich, 
generous,  noble  and  true,  become  our  impulses ;  his 
spirit,  purposes,  tastes,  loves,  motives,  aspirations, 
become  our  own,  incorporated  into  our  personal  be- 
ing, our  every  day  experience  and  life  currents ;  his 
righteousness  becomes  ours,  not  by  imputation 
merely,  but  by  infusion,  incorporation,  by  being 
made  actually,  personally  ours,  properties  of  our 


STUDIES    OF    THE    WORD    AND    LIFE.  267 

being,  qualities  of  our  characters,   endowments  of 
our  lives. 


It  is  truth,  reverently  accepted  and  wisely 
used,  that  sanctifies  men.  And  the  naturalist  may 
be  God's  mouth  -  piece  to  reveal  his  thought,  as  well 
as  the  theologian  and  the  preacher.  David's  devout- 
ness  climbed  up  to  God's  presence,  where  he  laid 
his  consecrated  soul,  by  the  aid  of  the  midnight 
constellations  ;  and  Jesus  has  made  the  lily  of  the 
field  preach  an  effective  sermon  upon  trust  to  al- 
most twenty  centuries.  The  phenomena  of  the 
material  universe  have  not  yet  spent  their  force. 
Never  before  were  their  lessons  so  many,  so  clear,  or 
so  full  of  meaning.  The  true  attitude  of  Christians 
in  relation  to  them  is  not  that  of  Christ  saying  to 
Satan,  "  Get  thee  behind  me  !  "  but  rather  that  of 
Mary  sitting  at  the  Master's  feet,  looking  reverently 
into  his  face  with  beaming  eye  and  attentive  ear. 

A  genuine  Christian  faith  often  shows  an  achieve- 
ment rather  than  an  inheritance.  It  does  not  al- 
ways come  unasked.  It  does  not  spring  up  in  all  hearts 
as  a  natural  growth,  and  defy  all  attempts  to  tear  its 
roots  out  of  the  soil.  Sometimes  it  thrives  only  be- 
neath a  constant  and  skillful  nurture,  and  every  item 
of  fruit  represents  much  labor,  conflict,  heroism, 
and  prayer. 

That  religion  which  dies  out  as  soon  as  a  revival 
ceases,  or  the  prayer  -  meeting  is  at  an  end;  which 


268  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

is  afraid  of  an  anti  -  slavery  sermon,  or  wilts  in  the 
workshop;  which  is  tainted  at  each  election,  and 
dies  down  at  every  trial ;  which  grows  peevish  at 
the  loss  of  praise,  and  feels  as  though  it  were  starv- 
ing because  the  preacher  does  n't  make  his  hearers 
weep  in  tenderness  in  every  sermon,  —  shows  baby- 
hood, not  manhood. 

The  systematic  study  of  the  Bible  needs  to  be 
esteemed  more  highly,  and  presented  more  gener- 
ally. Each  community  needs  to  feel  that  the  re- 
ligious necessities  about  and  within  it  demand  pro- 
vision for  the  religious  culture  of  the  young,  no 
less  than  a  place  for  public  worship,  and  a  preacher 
of  the  Gospel. 


The  noblest  and  finest  souls  are  those  that  cheer- 
fully and  constantly  serve.  If  they  can  do  this  as 
the  result  of  careful  plans,  hard  work,  and  the 
steady  putting  down  of  selfishness,  it  is  something 
to  honor,  admire  and  copy.  It  is  a  still  better  thing 
if  they  can  do  it  as  by  a  sort  of  sanctified  instinct 
and  ruling  impulse,  as  though  there  were  nothing 
else  that  stood  in  competition  with  it. 

This  is  what  so  clearly  marked  the  character  and 
life  of  the  Great  Master.  He  came  to  do  the  will 
of  him  that  sent  him ;  to  serve  and  save  others ;  to 
give  his  life  a  ransom  for  men.  It  is  his  meat  to 
give.  He  stands  among  men  as  one  that  serveth  in 
newness  and  gladness  of  spirit.  His  service 
as  the  Great  Helper  is  the  natural  and  steady 


STUDIES    OF   THE   WORD    AND    LIFE.  269 

outflow  of  his  heart.  It  is  the  fragrant  blossom  oi 
love,  not  a  product  fashioned  by  the  mandate  of  law. 
We  admire  brilliance  of  intellect.  We  are  awed 
before  the  power  of  a  great  thinker.  We  bestow 
laurels  on  the  hero.  But,  after  all,  in  our  heart  of 
hearts  we  pay  the  highest  tributes,  and  offer  our 
tenderest  love,  to  those  who  make  us  see  what  is 
meant  by  helpful  lives.  They  stand  nearest  to  God 
in  our  thought ;  they  seem  most  like  him  ;  the  chasm 
is  deepest  and  darkest  that  is  left  when  they  pass 
away ;  we  can  hardly  think  of  heaven  without  find- 
ing it  especially  attractive  because  they  are  to  make 
up  a  part  of  its  company  and  give  tone  to  its  life. 


The  disquiet  of  the  human  soul  is  not  an  uncom- 
mon thing.  It  labors  and  is  heavy  laden.  It  strays 
widely  and  loses  sight  of  home.  It  is  shrouded  in 
darkness  and  rilled  with  fear.  It  seeks  peace  where 
storms  are  born ;  and  tempests  make  it  their  sport 
and  plaything.  And  so  the  peace  and  rest  for  which 
it  is  fitted  are  wanting. 

Some  souls  have  known  nothing  better  than  this 
commotion,. wreariness  and  fear.  They  have  been 
tossed  and  torn  all  their  days.  Spiritual  peace  has 
come  to  them  only  as  a  bright  vision,  a  blessed 
dream,  an  unapproachable  heaven.  Their  inward 
history  is  symbolized  by  the  dove  sent  out  from  the 
ark  while  the  floods  covered  the  mountains,  —  by 
the  troubled  sea. 

The  psalmist  was  in  that  mood  of  retrospection 
when  he  broke  out  in  that  sentence  of  mingled  sad- 


270  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY.  . 

ness,  self- reproach,  gratitude  and  aspiration,  and 
which  is  so  full  of  human  pathos  and  religious  fer- 
vor,—  "  Return  unto   thy  rest,  O  my  soul,  for  the 
Lord    hath   dealt  bountifully  with  thee.  "     He  had 
known  the  peace  of  faith,  of  great  victories,  of  con- 
scious security,  of  a  fellowship    that  made  God's 
thoughts  precious,   and  of  a  love  that   casteth  out 
fear.     He  had  seen  men  lying  in  wait  for  his  life, 
had  been  driven  from  his  throne  into  exile  by  a  re- 
bellion headed  by  his  own  son,  had  touched  almost 
the  lowest  depths  of  what  men  call  calamity.     And 
yet,  through  it  all  he   can  rest.     His    heart  often 
breaks   out   amid  these  experiences   in   a  burst  of 
triumph  or  a   strain  of   peace  that    sends  its  won- 
drous music  down  through  three  thousand  years.  We 
hear  it  yet.     It  trembles  to  -  day  in  the  psalms  and 
hymns  of  all  Christendom.      The  gladdest  and  most 
victorious  souls  yet  voice  their  richest  experiences 
in  his  words.    Wherever  faith  conquers,  hope  soars, 
peace  becomes  worshipful,  or  love  is  satisfied,  there 
these    strains,   which  come  out   of  his  joyous   and 
restful  heart  like  the  lark's  song  out  of  the  summer 
morning's   mist,    are    caught   up   and  repeated,    as 
having  unequaled  power  to  voice  the  deepest  ex- 
periences of  the  soul. 

But  his  soul  had  wandered.  It  did  not  now  find 
itself  quietly  at  home  with  God.  It  sought  rest  else- 
where. It  may  have  been  in  the  achievements  of 
his  conquering  sword,  the  renown  that  brought  him 
homage  from  distant  empires,  or  in  the  anticipation 
of  the  splendid  dynasty  he  was  to  found,  or  in 


STUDIES    OF   THE.  WORD   AND   LIFE.  271 

the  sensual  luxury  which  waited  on  his  steps. 
No  matter  what.  His  soul  could  not  rest  in  these. 
They  were  not  meant  to  satisfy  it.  It  had  known  a 
better  portion.  It  had  felt  a  diviner  joy.  However 
others  might  find  peace  and  satisfaction  in  these 
other  things,  they  deepened  his  sense  of  want  and 
loss.  They  made  him  1'ong  for  the  old  peace.  God's 
fellowship  was  the  only  source  of  rest  for  his  soul. 
And  so  he  bids  it  return  to  its  rest,  and  cheers  it 
with  a  reminder  of  the  Lord's  bountiful  dealing. 
He  rouses  himself  to  find  and  regain  it.  And  it  is 
his  again,  as  his  after  songs  of  peace,  and  grati- 
tude, and  thanksgiving,  and  triumph,  tell  us. 

It  is  the  only  real  rest  of  other  souls,  whether  it 
has  once  been  known  or  comes  as  a  fresh  revelation. 
It  is  the  chief  thing  needed.  Seeking  it  elsewhere 
must  fail.  Seeking  it  here  truly,  will  reveal  and 
obtain  it.  It  may  abide.  It  may  deepen.  It  may 
become  a  habit  of  the  soul.  It  will  calm  agitation. 
It  will  allay  fear.  It  will  make  effort  wiser  and 
more  fruitful.  It  will  make  trials  serviceable.  It 
will  take  the  sting  out  of  death.  It  will  send  the 
soul  to  heaven  ready  to  breathe  its  air  and  enter  at 
once  into  sympathy  with  its  eternal  peace. 


It  is  time  that  we  had  learned  that  a  mere  change 
of  methods  will  not  do  everything  ;  that  Satan  is  not 
to  be  dislodged  by  a  piece  of  skillful  strategy  ;  that 
there  is  no  spiritual  machinery  which  will  enable  us 
to  dispense  with  resolute  effort ;  that  a  Christian  life 
can  not  be  entered  without  a  real  struggle  nor  main- 


272  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

tained  without  self-  denying  devotion  ;  that  the  cross 
is  yet  a  symbol  full  of  meaning,  and  the  bearing  of 
it  an  experience  that  tests  and  tries  the  full  energy 
of  the  soul ;  that  the  promotion  of  religion  is  to  be 
a  steady  and  costly  as  well  as  a  sublime  and  joy  - 
giving  work ;  and  that  he  who  truly  and  largely 
serves  his  Master  and  his  fellows  in  the  highest 
way,  must  still  keep  to  the  old  path  whereon  the 
feet  of  the  saints  have  left  their  footprints,  know 
something  of  the  conflicts  that  make  David's  psalms 
like  the  outcry  of  a  desperate  wrestler,  and  go  up 
to  Paul's  immortality  and  crown  along  the  way  of 
Paul's  heroic  service. 


There  are  those  who  find  their  gospel  in  the 
newspapers,  and  claim  that  they  are  doing  more  for 
the  promotion  of  true  religion  than  the  pulpit. 
They  set  the  editor's  leader  above  the  minister's 
sermon  as  a  religious  force.  But  we  shall  have  to 
wait  a  long  while  for  the  Christian  millennium  if  we 
are  to  depend  upon  the  work  of  the  secular  papers, 
as  that  work  is  done  to  -  day,  to  bring  it  in.  While 
the  World  thrives  by  slander,  and  the  Herald  pros- 
pers by  pandering  to  the  lower  passions,  and  the 
Tribune  wins  applause  by  charging  its  critics  with 
being  "  liars,"  "  hypocrites,"  "  rascals,"  "  knaves," 
and  "  fools,"  we  shall  need  some  better  interpreter 
of  the  beatitudes  and  some  higher  illustrations  of 
the  golden  rule  than  the  secular  journalism  of  the 
country  affords. 

And  it  is  no  injustice  to  say  that  much  of  the  re- 


STUDIES    OF   THE   WORD    AND    LIFE.  273 

ligion  which  gets  commended  in  our  journals  is  lit- 
tle else  than  a  decent  respect  for  strong  and  impos- 
ing institutions  thai  have  won  a  place  and  gained  an 
influence  which  will  not  allow  them  to  be  ignored 
or  despised.  The  vigorous,  stalwart,  personal  faith 
that  our  times  are  needing,  is  not  greatly  praised. 
It  is  more  apt  to  be  calumniated  than  commended. 

Our  journalism  tolerates  and  commends  generally 
just  that  kind,  and  degree  of  religion  which  pays 
respect  to  Sundays  and  takes  a  seat  in  the  sanctu- 
ary pew  ;  which  recognizes  an  over  -  ruling  Provi- 
dence in  the  opening  or  closing  paragraphs  of  state 
papers  and  Proclamations  for  Thanksgiving ;  which 
would  put  a  short  prayer  at  the  beginning  of  public 
business,  as  a  kind  of  call  to  order  and  a  testimony 
that  we  are  a  Christian  instead  of  a  pagan  nation ; 
which  would  have  some  serious  words  said  at  the 
funeral  and  the  wedding,  as  fitting  to  the  occasion  ; 
which  would  trace  a  sentence  of  Scripture  on  the 
tombstone  of  a  friend,  because  accordant  with  good 
taste ;  and  allow  an  immortality,  for  the  purpose  of 
putting  the  departed  into  a  pleasant  world  where 
they  wait  our  company  amid  music  and  feasting. 

But  it  has  not  a  great  deal  to  say,  directly  or  in- 
directly, in  behalf  of  a  religion  which  begins  by 
calling  for  a  radical  repentance  and  a  thorough  re- 
generation ;  which  makes  faith  in  God  the  chief  in- 
spiration of  life,  and  righteousness  the  central  qual- 
ity of  character ;  which  will  not  allow  principle  to 
be  bartered  for  the  gains  of  policy  ;  which  scorns 
the  profits  that  are  bought  by  the  sacrifice  of  godli- 


274  GEORGE   TIFFANY   DAY. 

ness ;  which  will  neither  participate  in,  nor  connive 
at,  a  wrong,  however  old  or  popular ;  which  lifts  up 
its  solitary  voice  to  protest  against  a  false  life  like 
John  the  Baptist  from  the  wilderness  or  Paul  at  Ath- 
ens ;  which  begins  and  ends  all  its  arguments  by 
quoting  Jesus  of  Nazareth  against  the  oppressive 
statute  of  a  legislature,  the  vicious  decree  of  a  court, 
or  the  false  verdict  of  a  great  people.  Far  too 
much  of  the  religion  of  our  journalism  is  that  which 
>can  be  made  to  give  its  benediction  to  the  policy 
which  that  journalism  has  chosen,  and  which  con- 
sents to  walk  side  by  side  with  the  principles  that 
•bring  the  largest  dividends  and  allow  the  widest 
freedom  of  life. 

The  discovery  of  printing  did  not  inaugurate  the 
•millennium,  nor  do  daily  journals  come  to  assure  us 
that  the  Messiah's  final  triumph  is  at  hand.  It  will 
•mark  the  moral  height  of  public  sentiment,  and  indi- 
cate the  moral  temperature  of  public  life.  The  edit- 
or is  not  always  the  clear  -  eyed  and  evangelical 
prophet,  and  the  sheet  he  sends  forth  is  not  always 
the  healing  branch  which  turns  the  bitter  waters  in- 
to a  sweet  and  refreshing  beverage. 

No,  the  journal  is  not  the  Redeemer,  and  not 
•even  his  obedient  and  loyal  servant.  It  may  yet  be 
sometimes  found  exalting  the  vices  which  he  put 
under  ban,  and  casting  open  contempt  on  the  beati- 
tudes which  he  has  grouped  into  a  constellation  and 
fixed  in  the  spiritual  firmament  overhead.  Yet  it 
shall  doubtless  one  day  be  his  instrument,  —  speak- 
ing his  word  with  its  mute  but  eloquent  lips,  and 


STUDIES    OF    THE   WORD   AND    LIFE.  275 

hastening  to  bear  his  salvation  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth. 


The  early  Greek  sailors  on  the  ^Egean  sea  had 
no  compass.  But  on  the  Acropolis,  at  Athens, 
there  was  a  system  of  burnished  shields,  and  by 
turning  these  skillfully  to  the  sun  its  rays  could  be 
caught  and  thrown  far  over  the  water,  to  guide  the 
sailors  home.  How  many  are  going  down  all 
about  us  in  the  sea  of  sin.  The  darkness  of  woe 
envelops  them.  But  God  has  set  his  people  to  be 
the  "  light  of  the  world."  And  yet,  how  shall  the 
heart  emit  this  light,  unless  it  be  fixed  toward  the 
Sun  of  Righteousness,  to  catch  its  rays  and  fling 
them  out  towards  the  bewildered  and  the  lost?  No 
clouds  can  prevent  this  light.  By  day  or  night  its 
effulgence  is  undimmed,  and  it  is  their  own  fault 
who  do  not  walk  in  its  glory. 

Whoever  would  preach  virtue  successfully  must 
practice  it  faithfully.  The  word  goes  for  little  when 
the  deed  contradicts  it.  A  bad  life  will  neutralize 
the  best  sermon.  A  man  may  pray  like  a  saint, 
talk  like  an  inspired  prophet,  and  sing  hymns  like 
an  angel,  but  if  he  acts  like  a  self-seeker  and 
leaves  the  rights  and  interests  of  others  to  be  sacri- 
ficed, his  power  to  profit  will  be  gone,  and  his  most 
pious  utterances  will  awaken  impatience  and  dis- 
gust. 


What  do  we  when  we  fret,  but  indirectly  chide 


GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

God  for  his  treatment  of  us?  Will  not  the  Judge  of 
all  the  earth  do  right?  Shall  a  stormy  day,  or  a 
lost  election,  or  a  losing  bargain,  or  any  of  these 
minor  matters  betra}1-  us  into  snares  which  Satan 
would  gleefully  see  us  entangled  in? 


Intellect  and  sensibility  are  not  sworn  and  deadly 
enemies.  They  need  not  fight,  sneer  at,  hate,  or 
protest  against  each  other.  Logic  need  not  neu- 
tralize love.  Fervor  need  not  blunt  intelligence. 
Study  and  prayer  may  clasp  hands.  What  the 
keen  vision  discovers,  affection  may  feed  and  grow 
strong  on.  On  the  solid  facts  which  intelligent 
thought  has  brought  together,  faith  may  plant  the 
foot  of  her  ladder  whose  top  pierces  heaven.,  and 
over  which  the  angels  of  God  ascend  and  descend, 
ever  bearing  precious  messages  between  God  and 
the  human  soul. 


We  become  vitally  interested  in  those  for  whom 
we  directly  labor.  They  are  at  once  near  and  real. 
Their  souls  and  ours  clasp  hands.  It  is  true  ser- 
vice given  and  received.  The  giver  acquires  a 
fresh  love  of  giving  ;  and  the  receiver  finds  the  new, 
inward  possessions  adding  something  to  every  gen- 
erous impulse  and  grateful  emotion. 

Never  disparaging  the  church,  nor  exhibiting  an 
audacious  and  defiant  disregard  of  its  objects  and 
plans,  yet  we  want  more  of  the  sense  of  individual 
responsibility  and  the  devotion  of  personal  effort. 
One's  duty  is  not  done  by  uniting  with  a  church, 


STUDIES    OF    THE    WORD    AND   LIFE.  277 

by  helping  to  pay  the  minister's  salary,  by  attend- 
ing the  prayer  meeting  and  communion  service,  by 
teaching  a  Sabbath  school  class,  by  contributing 
to  the  funds  of  benevolent  societies.  All  this  is  well. 
These  are  things  that  should  not  be  left  undone. 
But  these  may  not  be  substituted  for  personal  effort. 
What  we  want  is  Christian  disciples,  who  realize 
that  they  are  laborers  with  God,  and  who  do  their 
daily  work  as  in  his  eye,  with  the  sense  of  responsi- 
bility to  him,  to  their  own  consciences,  and  to  the 
needy  hearts  about  them.  Each  needs  to  feel  that 
he  is  his  brother's  keeper.  Say  an  earnest,  practi- 
cal word  for  the  Gospel  to  the  soul  that  stands  near- 
est. That  soul  may  keep  open  ear  only  at  your  lips. 
Offer  sympathy.  Give  aid.  Supply  a  loaf  of  bread. 
Do  n't  wait  for  the  church  or  for  any  of  its  other 
members  to  do  it.  Let  the  heart  speak  out  in  the 
sentence  or  the  act,  and  it  will  not  be  in  vain.  Ask 
God's  blessing  on  the  effort,  and  see  how  great 
things  can  come  from  what  seemed  so  small. 

Whether  one  finds  little  or  much  meaning  and  joy 
and  profit  in  church  life,  depends,  more  than  on 
almost  an}'thing  else,  upon  his  own  active  fidelity. 


Christ  is  the  Teacher ;  we  are  called  to  go  to 
school  to  him,  not  to  learn  literature  and  science, 
but  theology  and  life.  He  teaches  gradually,  not 
all  at  once.  First,  simple  principles,  then,  applica- 
tions, then  other,  deeper,  and  more  comprehensive 
principles. 

The  true  law  of  Christian  life  is  progress  ;  provi- 


278  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

sion  is  made  for  it.  Conversion  is  the  end  of  noth- 
ing but  going  on  in  the  old  way  of  selfishness  and 
impulse  ;  of  all  growth  upward,  earnest  service  in 
the  right  sphere,  self-  mastery  and  the  true  way  of 
living,  it  is  simply  the  beginning. 

They  who  wish  to  be  free  from  temptation,  know 
not  what  they  ask.  They  are  calling  for  a  repeal 
of  the  law  of  influence,  praying  for  a  complete  and 
ceaseless  isolation  of  soul,  craving  a  spiritual  desert 
for  a  dwelling  place ;  and  never  to  be  touched  with 
the  finger  of  social  S3^mpathy.  For  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  repealing  the  law  of  social  affinities  among 
the  vicious,  and  leaving  it  in  full  activity  among  the 
pure.  That  may  be  possible  in  the  chemistry  of 
eternity,  not  in  that  of  time. 

Trial  has  its  high  uses, —  a  blessing  springs  from 
the  soil  of  sin.  The  bee  gets  honey  from  the  poi- 
sonous herb,  the  skillful  and  dutiful  soul  draws 
vigor  from  the  conflict  wherein  evil  strikes  at  its 
heart.  The  prayer,  "  Lead  us  not  into  temptation,'' 
is  the  outburst  of  a  soul,  only  fearing,  with  godly 
anxiety,  a  moral  fall. 

A  great  nature  shows  its  greatness  quite  as  much 
in  its  condescension  to  details,  as  in  its  soaring  aft- 
er a  great  object.  God  impresses  us  quite  as  much 
when  organizing  an  animalcule  as  when  launching 
a  system ;  and  Christ,  in  talking  with  the  woman  of 
Samaria,  awakens  not  less  of  wonder  and  love  than 
when  stilling  the  tempest. 


STUDIES    OF   THE    WORD   AND    LIFE.  279 

Christ's  sympathy  is  more  than  mental  apprecia- 
tion, more  than  mere  pity  for  our  lot,  more  than  a 
mere  interest  in  our  getting  on  —  though  when  we 
think  who  Christ  is,  that  would  be  much ;  —  but 
he  feels  it  as  one  feels  the  blow  that  fell  on  a  friend, 
as  a  mother's  heart  writhes  when  a  calamity  strikes 
a  dear  child. 

Men  are  deceived  by  resolving  they  will  not  be 
deceived  by  religious  pretensions,  appeals  and 
people.  They  are  deceived  into  opposition  and 
skepticism.  They  resolve  to  take  a  cool,  calm,  rea- 
sonable view  of  religion ;  not  to  be  carried  away 
by  enthusiasm.  Hence,  they  become  icy,  cynical, 
irresponsible.  They  are  deceived  by  an  excess  of 
severe  criticism  upon  others,  on  faults  real  or  ap- 
parent. They  become  destructive  critics  and  icon- 
oclasts. They  may  be  such  for  other  reasons  than 
love  to  truth  and  Christ,  there  may  be  hatred  in- 
stead of  affection.  They  are  deceived,  too,  by  get- 
ting rid  of  dependence  on  church  rites,  ceremonies, 
Bibles,  Sunday  schools,  prayer  meetings.  Go- 
ing from  these  is  usually  going  away  from  Jesus, 
and  leaving  the  great  forces  of  religion  to  weak- 
ness. • 

A  soul  roused  to  the  consciousness  of  its  state  and 
necessities,  feels  itself  summoned  to  service.  No 
doctrine  of  passive  regeneration  avails  then.  And 
when  self  -  subdual  is  called  for,  that  is  felt  to  be 
most  earnest  work.  Moreover,  it  is  felt  that  God  i& 


280  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

rightful  Master,  and  that  He  must  be.  appealed  to 
for  light  and  direction.  It  is  felt,  too,  that  all  is  un- 
availing which  lacks  his  approval.  Until  God  says, 
"  Well  done,"  little  has  been  gained. 

The  veriest  slave  is  he  whose  own  selfish  passions 
lead  him  whithersoever  they  will.  Freedom  is  the 
gift  of  stern  discipline,  of  heroic  labor.  The  pil- 
grims were  not  less  free  because  Plymouth  Rock 
was  flinty,  the  tempest  rough,  and  the  wilderness 
inhospitable.  The  slave  is  not  less  free  because 
forethought,  care  and  toil  are  steps  to  manliness 
and  dignity.  These  nurtured  the  Puritan  invincible- 
ness  —  these  nurture,  also,  the  bondman's  higher 
qualities  that  make  him  fully  a  man. 

It  can  not  be  too  well  understood  that  Christ 
comes  to  offer  conditional  help  to  needy  and  seek- 
ing souls.  If  men  do  not  wish  nor  mean  to  come 
into  contact  with  him,  keep  aloof  for  any  reason 
or  on  any  pretense,  he  will  not  be  seen  as  he  is, 
understood  nor  appreciated,  nor  will  he  profit  men. 
There  is  folly  and  presumption  in  the  men  who  sit 
down  and  endeavor  to  analyze  or  pronounce  upon 
the  work  Christ  can  do  for  a  soul,  when  there  is  no 
fellowship  with  Him. 


There  is  sometimes  a  great  deal  of  pride,  preju- 
dice and  jealousy  on  the  part  of  the  poor  as  exer- 
cised toward  the  rich.  The}-  talk  of  the  wealthy 
and  strong  as  though  they  must  be  sinners,  and  of 


STUDIES    OF    THE    WORD    AND    LIFE.  28l 

the  poor  as  though  they  were  surely  saints ;  and 
yet  it  happens  so  that  they  do  n't  often  take  special 
pains  to  get  rid  of  wealth  and  power  when  it  is 
offered.  They  often  copy  the  extravagances  of  the 
rich,  and  insist  upon  appearing  their  equals.  Pov- 
erty and  piety  are  not  synonyms. 

Not  a  few  are  fond  of  interpreting  the  Gospel  so 
as  to  make  it  drop  benedictions  over  the  poor  and 
depressed  simply  because  they  are  so ;  and  utter  its 
maledictions  over  the  wealthy  and  strong,  as  if 
wealth  and  strength  were  wickedness,  or  implied 
that. 

That  men  should  give  attention,  sometimes  seri- 
ously, to  religious  teaching,  is  no  great  virtue  ;  it  is 
eminently  natural.  The  source  of  the  Gospel, 
the  testimonials  attending  its  preaching,  -the  solem- 
nity of  its  subject  matter,  the  appeal  it  makes  to 
every  side  of  our  nature  and  every  faculty  of  the 
soul's  authority  and  its  love,  our  own  instinctive 
yearnings, —  all  nearly  compel  attention  and  inter- 
est. It  is  no  great  virtue  that  we  listen,  believe,  feel, 
and  are  prompted  to  act.  The  wonder  is  we  feel 
so  little  and  so  seldom,  and  that  our  feeling  issues 
in  so  small  practical  results. 


One  other  phase  of  faith  there  is, —  it  is  the  phase 
that  makes  it  an  inspiration  ;  a  given  energy,  the 
passing  in  of  the  spiritual  power,  indicated  by  the 
truth  within  us ;  the  lifting  us  up  in  purpose,  the 
making  God  operative  within ;  the  rousing  of  ener- 


282  GEORGE   TIFFANY   DAY. 

gy  which  makes  us  live  in  the  future,  sow  as  if 
we  saw  the  harvest,  struggle  as  though  we  grasped 
the  crown.  This  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the 
world,  even  our  faith.  This  is  the  climax.  Belief 
is  a  privilege  ;  confidence  a  promise  ;  trust  a  deep, 
permanent  joy  ;  but  inspiration  is  a  redemption  and 
a  glory  forever.  On  the  first,  God  looks  kindly,  on 
the  second,  he  smiles,  with  trust  he  sympathises ; 
but  over  the  inspiration  of  faith  alone,  he  cries, 
"  Well  done." 

It  is  useless  to  attempt  to  disguise  the  fact  that 
well  trained  and  truly  cultivated  minds  are  in  great 
demand  everywhere.  This  demand  is  to  grow 
stronger  and  more  imperative  every  year.  The  real 
leaders  in  all  the  higher  circles  of  life  must  hence- 
forth bring  to  their  work  disciplined  and  balanced 
powers.  And  it  is  a  rounded  culture  that  is 
especially  demanded.  We  have  salient  points, 
angles,  unbalanced  forces  in  society  generally.  We 
want  symmetry,  unity,  completeness,  —  minds 
harmonized,  rounded,  with  their  forces  brought  to 
each  other's  support. 

Give  us  real,  vital,  working  vigor  in  our  scholars, 
to  be  sure,  but  give  us  also  symmetry  and  sweet- 
ness. ,The  modesty,  the  graciousness,  the  fine 
sense  of  propriety,  the  courtesy  that  is  always 
equally  dignified  and  affable,  the  deference  that  is 
never  withholden  where  it  is  due,  the  manners  that 
keep  their  polish  but  do  not  part  with  their  warmth, 
the  spirit  that  never  ceases  to  be  kind  and  sweet 


STUDIES    OF    THE   WORD    AND    LIFE.  283 

even  when  it  must  be  firm  in  its  dissent  and  faithful 
in  its  reproof,  —  all  this  is  something  which  enters 
vitally  into  a  complete  and  rounded  culture  ;  —  it  is 
something  which  our  teachers  should  earnestly  set 
themselves,  to  secure  in  their  pupils,  which  our 
pupils  should  be  bent  on  acquiring,  and  which  will 
exalt  our  education  in  the  esteem  of  the  people.  In 
order  to  this,  is  it  needful  to  establish  special  Pro- 
fessorships in  the  interest  of  Christian  manners  ? 


It  is  one  thing  to  take  the  yoke ;  it  is  quite  another 
to  endure  it.  It  is  a  help  to  bear  life's  inevitable 
load  in  the  one  case ;  it  is  like  the  world  on  the 
shoulders  of  Atlas  in  the  other. 

This  friendliness,  of  spirit  is  the  very  essence  of 
Christianity.  When  the  Saviour  wished  to  impress 
upon  his  followers  the  blessed  station  to  which  he 
had  called  them,  he  said,  "  I  call  you  not  servants, 
but  friends."  Wonderful  service  of  love,  which  at 
once  constituted  and  sealed  Christ's  friendship  for 
the  world  !  Can  one  be  his  follower  and  fail  to  ex- 
ercise the  same  spirit?  Has  not  the  church  this 
divine  message  for  the  world,  and  is  it  not  a  part  of 
its  mission  that  it  be  delivered  in  sympathy  and  love  ? 
How  else  shall  we  gain  the  heart  of  those  whose 
knowledge  of  our  religion  is  so  often  gained  only 
from  our  cold  and  formal  expressions  of  it?  It  is, 
moreover,  largely  by  the  exercise  of  this  friendly 
and  sympathizing  spirit  that  the  church  keeps  up  its 
life.  Thinking  only  of  itself,  of  its  elegant  house, 


284  GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

of  its  eloquent  preacher,  of  its  exquisite  singing,  of 
its  wealthy  membership,  what  service,  such  as  the 
world  needs,  is  it  fitted  to  render?  Opportunities 
depend  upon  the  use  we  make  of  them.  Bayard 
Taylor's  Lars  was 

"  Weary,  not  in  hands  and  feet, 

But  tired  of  idly  owning  them." 

It  is  so  with  whatever  opportunities  we  idly  pos- 
sess. They  become  only  a  burden  and  a  reproach 
to  us. 


Like  the  rain  and  the  sunshine  God  sends  abroad 
his  love.  And  as  the  daisy  by  the  highway,  the 
fern  in  the  forest,  and  the  lichen  on  the  mountain 
take  the  warmth  and  the  moisture  and  thrive  there- 
on, no  less  than  the  gorgeous  flowers  in  the  rich 
man's  garden ;  so  the  loyal  human  soul,  providen- 
tially shut  away  from  church  life  and  fellowship, 
may  count  on  the  coming  of  that  infinite  affection 
which  blesses  as  with  heavenly  beam  and  dew.  It 
is  never  forgotten ;  it  is  never  left  without  help  ;  it 
never  need  fear  that  God's  care  will  be  denied  it. 


Christianity  is  a  strong  stimulant  for  souls.  Christ 
came  that  men  might  have  life,  and  that  they  might 
have  it  more  abundantly.  A  nature  offering  itself 
freely  to  the  influence  of  the  Gospel  will  be  quicken- 
ed as  the  landscape  when  the  summer  sun  and  airs 
come  up  from  the  tropics  and  blend  their  ministries 
in  its  behalf. 


STUDIES  OF  THE  WORD  AND  LIFE.  285 

Peace  and  rest  are  among  the  most  special  and 
the  choicest  things  promised  in  the  Gospel.  That 
wonderful  forty  -  sixth  psalm  is  an  exaltation  of  the 
quiet  and  settled  trust  that  keeps  a  serene  heart  and 
a  smiling  face  amid  the  fury  of  the  elements  and 
the  fiercest  strifes  of  men.  It  is  upon  the  heads  of 
the  gentle  virtues  that  the  beatitudes  are  showered. 
The  portrait  of  the  Great  Master  that  rises  on  the 
reader  of  the  New  Testament,  is  one  that  suggests  a 
quietude  of  heart  that  is  divinely  deep,  —  the  infinite 
majesty  of  moral  repose.  And  there  are  few  words 
among  all  that  are  found  in  the  Bible  which  speak 
of  Jehovah  more  impressively  than  those  which 
show  him  to  us  sitting  "King  above  the  floods." 


Truth  can  enter  no  solitary  way.  Whether  its 
next  step  leads  into  the  darkness,  or  the  flood,  or 
the  desert;  amid  thorns,  or  over  mountains,  or  by 
the  springs  of  Marah,  it  may  see  a  constant  gleam 
ahead,  for  Christ  has  gone  before. 

Gentleness  of  conduct  is  life's  brightest  ornament. 
Not  that  gentleness  which  meekly  stoops  under  op- 
posing forces,  and  without  a  protest  lets  them  walk 
over  one  ;  but  that  which  goes  quietly  and  steadily 
along  its  way,  scattering  blessings  from  one  hand 
even  if  it  must  make  a  fist  of  the  other,  and  so  heal- 
ing even  while  it  hurts  its  enemies.  This  com- 
mandment is  not  indeed  among  the  regular  ten,  but 
its  authorship  is  the  same.  God  judges  by  the 
spirit  quite  as  much  as  by  the  act,  and  perhaps  Tom 


286  GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

Hood's  "  wooden  oaths"  are  oftener  charged  to  our 
account  than  the  violation  of  the  command  which 
Moses  received  on  Sinai. 


Let  him  who  would  do  a  worthy  work  for  God 
and  men  be  manly  and  brave  as  well  as  sincere  and 
earnest.  Let  him  keep  clear  of  the  minor  key. 
Let  him  hide  his  own  griefs  and  trials  with  a  cloak 
of  cheerful  and  patient  resolution.  Let  him  not 
whine,  nor  croak,  nor  scold,  nor  boast.  Let  him 
bury  the  story  of  his  own  sufferings  out  of  sight, 
and,  instead  of  asking  sympathy  for  himself,  plead 
for  aid  to  the  right  cause.  Let  him  not  be  forward 
in  making  his  own  plans  the  exponents  of  God's 
thoughts,  nor  accuse  his  own  critics  of  freshly  cru- 
cifying Christ.  Let  him  keep  his  faith  in  God 
steady  and  his  charity  toward  men  sweet. 


Yes,  it  is  a  vital  Gospel  that  is  in  our  hands.  Its 
words  are  spirit  and  life.  He  of  whom  it  tells  us 
was  dead,  but  is  alive  forevermore,  and  has  the  keys 
of  hell  and  of  death.  His  truth  is  still  like  an  angel 
standing  in  the  sun,  and  on  his  own  head  are  many 
crowns.  He  walks  daily  to  fresh  triumphs  over  the 
graves  of  opposing  systems  and  confident  antago- 
nists. His  steps  lead  to  a  final  triumph.  Shouts  of 
victory  from  his  friends  blend  with  the  prophecies 
that  his  overthrow  is  sure.  And  so  his  truth  will 
live.  He  will  reign  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies 
under  his  feet.  And  the  great  voice  will  yet  be 
heard,  saying,  —  "  The  kingdoms  of  this  world  are 


STUDIES    OF    THE   WORD    AND    LIFE.  287 

become   the   kingdoms    of   our   Lord   and   of   his 
Christ !  " 

The  number  of  converts  made  to  a  system  does  not 
indicate  its  strength  nor  clearly  predict  its  future. 
We  need  to  know  the  nature  of  the  cause,  and  the 
character  of  the  converts.  If  the  first  lack  a  sound 
basis  of  principle,  and  the  second  are  wanting  in 
character,  the  seeming  strength  is  weakness  and 
the  swelling  army  is  only  ready  to  make  the  panic 
greater  in  the  coming  day  of  defeat. 

The  Gospel,  then,  is  of  God,  whether  developed 
with  human  eloquence  or  not ;  by  the  sturdy  divine 
or  the  feeble,  lisping  Christian  child.  In  both  cases 
we  are  put  into  contact  with  the  vast  forces  of  God. 

It  is  the  plan  of  God,  according  to  which  he  has 
made  and  still  governs  the  world,  that  an  unselfish  de- 
votion to  the  welfare  of  others,  through  suffering  and 
self-  sacrifice,  shall  wear  the  highest  honors,  work 
out  the  noblest  results  and  be  crowned  in  the  loftiest 
temple. 

Each  claimant  of  the  Christian  name  should  re- 
member that  the  only  tenure  by  which  the  Christian 
character  is  properly  held,  is  that  of  labor,  —  active 
labor  in  the  Gospel.  This  is  a  primary  idea.  Not 
that  this  is  a  distinguishing  feature  of  superior  piety, 
a  kind  of  extra,  surplus  virtue,  which  may  inure  to 
the  benefit  of  others.  They  are  created  unto  this  — 


288  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

the  first  inhalation  of  the  Christian  spirit  is  an  im- 
pulse, a  commission,  and  a  command  to  labor, — 
labor  not  only  in  moral  forms,  but  for  religious 
prosperity. 

Remember  that  what  we  are  primarily  and  chiefly 
called  on  to  do,  is  to  receive  what  God  has  pro- 
vided, and  is  pressing  on  our  acceptance.  Teach- 
ing, promise,  inspiration,  spiritual  help,  guidance, 
elevation  of  aim  and  motive,  stimulus  for  the  affec- 
tions and  purification  for  the  whole  spiritual  nature, 
is  what  God  brings  us, — this  is  the  cup  of  salva- 
tion. 


There  is  a  great  deal  said  in  the  Bible  about  men 
in  social  and  national  aspects ;  for  there  has  always 
been  a  strong  tendency  to  narrow  down  the  idea  and 
sphere  of  religion  so  that  it  will  fail  to  include  fidel- 
ity in  all  social  relations  and  civil  work. 

Our  real  prosperity  is  not  dependent  so  much  on 
the  dominance  of  any  party,  nor  the  adoption  of  one 
or  another  set  of  political  measures.  The  vital 
forces  lie  deeper  down. 


A  man  with  a  conscience  against  a  national 
wrong,  and  living  and  working  in  its  interests,  is  a 
conscious  or  unconscious  foe  to  the  land  in  which 
he  lives.  Pleading  for  the  sacrifice  of  moral  con- 
viction and  principle  for  the  sake  of  material  gains, 
he  is  paralyzing  the  manhood  of  the  nation  and 
adopting  a  policy  which  will  in  time  turn  the  very 


STUDIES    OF    THE    WORD    AND    LIFE.  289 

soil  into  barrenness.  Our  opposition  to  a  wrong  must 
be  based  on  a  conviction  of  its  intrinsic  wickedness 
and  its  resulting  evils. 


The  Gospel  contains  a  reply  to  the  most  signifi- 
cant and  thrilling  questions  that  come  up  from  the 
soul ;  offers  relief  to  the  greatest  and  most  pressing 
necessities ;  brings  the  strongest  motives  to  act  on 
the  soul  to  subdue  its  passions  and  rouse  into  life  its 
slumbering  moral  energies.  Its  adaptation  to  varie- 
ties in  character,  circumstances,  and  experiences  is 
as  large  as  the  wants  it  comes  to  meet ;  and  its  in- 
spiration of  the  heart  by  means  of  bringing  eternity 
so  near  as  to  be  constantly  operative,  shows  how 
perfectly  the  necessities  of  man  had  been  measured, 
and  how  fully  its  depths  had  been  sounded  by  the 
Author  of  the  Gospel. 


How  powerless  is  a  religion  of  mere  taste  and 
imagination  to  profit  the  soul,  —  nay,  how  it  some- 
times consists  with  and  fosters  the  worst  vices  and 
the  most  frivolous  spirit.  Only  Christian  principle  can 
do  anything  for  us.  The  worst  opposition  of  heart 
may  consist  with  great  sensibility  to  religious  forms, 
—  with  tears  and  admiration. 

There  is  no  ground  for  hope  in  Christ's  mercy, 
save  as  there  is  a  spirit  of  obedience  to  the  prescrib- 
ing law.  I  know  Christ  is  Saviour ;  but  only  of  the 
obedient.  That  faith  is  worth  very  little  that  does 


GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 


not  work  purity  and  fidelity.      The  trust  is    as 
broken  reed  that  is  not  coupled  with  active  duty. 


Every  member  who  gives  less  than  he  receives ; 
who  uses  up  more  energy  in  being  kept  and  carried 
along  respectably,  than  is  given  to  aid  in  such  ser- 
vice, and  adding  to  its  moral  strength,  is  so  far 
making  that  church  weaker  by  his  connection  with 
it ;  and  so  virtually  doing  something  positive  to  de- 
feat the  object  of  its  organization.  They  put  bur- 
dens on  others,  diminish  their  courage,  paralyze 
their  arms,  neutralize  their  influence ;  they  are 
leeches  on  its  arteries. 


It  is  so  common  a  thing  to  confess  unfaithfulness 
as  Christians,  in  general  terms,  that  it  is  regarded 
as  the  proper  expression  of  humility,  and  no  real 
impeachment  of  character.  , 

It  is  proper  to  state  the  facts  about  ourselves,  but 
when  we  regard  the  confession  as  an  atonement, 
and  go  on  as  before,  we  are  doing  a  strange  thing. 


The  idea  of  the  atheist  that  this  universe  has  no 
God,  is  as  desolating  to  the  heart  as  irrational  to  the 
intellect.  It  leaves  us  orphans  ;  and  in  those  great 
breakings  up  of  the  deep  of  the  soul,  which  come, 
when  human  sympathy  is  mockery,  what  portionless 
creatures  we  are  ! 

The  glory  of  heaven  will  be  that  all  sides  of  the 
soul  will  touch  God.  He  will  speak  in  the  ear, 


STUDIES    OF    THE    WORD    AND    LIFE.  29! 

show  himself  to  the  eye,  teach  the  intellect,  stir  up 
the  conscience,  awaken  and  give  tenderness  to  the 
affections,  set  nobler  tasks  than  ever.  Every  faculty 
will  have  nutriment  and  objects ;.  and  the  whole  life 
will  be  one  over  which  religion  smiles.  All  experi- 
ence will  be  holy  ;  all  exercise  worship.  Each  power 
in  combined  and  harmonious  action  will  make  life  a 
glorious,  majestic  and  endless  anthem  of  praise  to 
God  and  the  Lamb. 


What  a  thought-  that,  under  the  most  touching 
circumstances  under  which  Christ  ever  offered  a 
prayer,  it  was  for  all  future  disciples.  It  is  the  cli- 
max of  his  plea  —  the  culminating  of  his  fervor. 
And  it  was  no  general  and  meaningless  prayer. 
His  eye  saw  each  believer,  and  looked  over  all  his 
conflicts ;  for  each,  for  us  he  prayed. 


We  often  pray  for  methods  of  deliverance  not  the 
best,  though  we  may  suppose  them  so.  Neverthe- 
less if  it  be  true  prayer,  aiming  at  Christian  results 
and  efficiency,  it  will  be  heard  and  answered, 
though  in  other  and  higher  forms  than  we  dreamed. 

We  can  say  of  the  Bible,  it  is  given  by  in- 
spiration of  God.  I  have  studied  it;  and  though 
my  childish  veneration  has  been  modified,  my  intel- 
ligent approval  has  grown  yearly  stronger.  I  have 
ceased  to  be  afraid  when  men  dispute  its  history,  or 
its  statements,  or  its  principles,  on  the  ground  of 
philosophy,  or  science,  or  intuition,  or  new  revela- 


292  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

tions.  It  has  been  a  hundred  times  given  over  to 
the  tormenters ;  but  its  martyrdoms  transfigure  it 
into  some  new  form  of  splendor.  Do  you  ask  me  if 
I  find  no  mystery  in  it?  Yes  ;  but  it  is  a  testimony 
to  its  divine  truth.  No  difficulties  unsolved?  Yes; 
many.  No  hard  sayings?  Yes;  many.  No  state- 
ments staggering  my  intellect  and  my  faith?  Yes  ; 
many.  Why  do  I  believe  in  it?  Because  unbelief 
costs  a  hundred  times  more  credulity.  What  do  I 
do  with  its  mysteries?  Wait  for  their  solutions. — 
Its  difficulties?  For  the  growth  of  wisdom. 

I  can  not  do  without  the  influence  it  brings. 
Within  me  are  yearnings  the  world  can  not  still. 
They  cry  for  light,  for  sympathy,  for  help,  for  im- 
mortality, for  peace,  for  a  great  bosom  to  rest  on, 
for  great,  strong,  tender  arms,  where  my  frightened, 
hunted  soul  may  lie  down  in  safety  and  sleep,  and 
smile  away,  its  fears.  I  ask,  what  answers  to  these 
inward  wants?  There  is  the  Helper,  who  offers  a 
staff  for  all  my  journey,  and  a  pillow  for  my  confi- 
dence when  I  lie  down  amid  the  shadows  of  the 
grave.  He  speaks  to  me,  only  as  I  would  be  spok- 
en to  in  this  book.  I  read,  I  listen,  I  believe,  I 
trust,  and  my  thrilled  and  satisfied  heart  lies  down 
like  a  soothed  child,  or  wakes  to  sing,  or  girds  itself 
joyfully  for  toil  and  conflict. 

Like  a  field,  blighted  by  frosts,  all  sere  from 
drought,  and  scorched  by  the  fierceness  of  the  sun , 
so  lies  my  heart,  parched  and  desolate,  all  its  green 
growths  going  to  decay.  As  the  dew  and  shower 
leave  diamond  drops  glittering  on  every  wilted 


STUDIES    OF    THE    WORD    AND    LIFE.  293 

shrub  and  grass -blade,  quickening  to  life  while 
they  beautify,  till  at  length  all  the  sward  is  in  blos- 
som, and  the  air  is  all  sweet-  scented  and  delicious, 
so  these  promises  of  God's  word,  more  full  of  re- 
freshment than  ever  a  cloud  of  summer  was 
of  rain,  come  and  pour  their  wealth  upon  me, 
and  there  is  spring  -  time  and  opening  summer  in 
my  soul.  As  each  dew  drop  mirrors  all  the  mag- 
nificence of  the  firmament,  so  my  spirit  becomes  a 
tiny  miniature  where  is  faintly  uplifted  all  the  mag- 
nificence of  heaven.  I  am  still  human,  but  no  more 
weak;  lam  still  perplexed,  but  I  have  a  guide; 
still  the  heart  bleeds,  but  precious  oil  and  wine  are 
poured  into  the  wound ;  whole  armies  of  tempta- 
tion assail  me,  but  a  sweet  voice  is  saying,  "  Fear 
not";  dark  clouds, —  but  a  shining  face  beams 
through  ;  the  grave  is  before  me,  but  the  gate  of 
immortality  opens  within  it,  and  radiant  forms  in- 
vite my  entrance,  and  I  hope  and  long  to  be  there. 


vm. 

SERMONS  AND  LECTURES. 


i. 


RELIGIOUS    PROSPERITY  ;     ITS    DESIRABLENESS    AND 
ITS    CONDITIONS. 

"  Beloved,  I  wish  above  all  things  that  thou  mayest  prosper." 

John  3  :  2. 

This  word  is  just  what  might  have  been  expected 
from  the  disciple  who  leaned  on  Jesus' bosom,  as,  in 
his  ripe  old  age,  near  the  hour  of  departure,  he 
turns  his  thought  to  those  who  have  still  life's  bat- 
tles to  fight,  and  its  temptations  to  meet. 

Christian  affection  can  never  be  selfish ;  and  a 
Christian  heart  can  never  be  indifferent  to  anything 
pertaining  to  the  honor  of  Christ  and  the  spread  of 
the  Gospel.  The  new  circle  into  which  the  spirit 
enters  can  not  blot  out  the  memory  of  the  old.  The 
waiting  glories  of  a  heavenly  life  still  leave  the  eye 
free  to  cast  backward  glances  of  sympathy  and 
affection.  Amid  its  thanksgiving  to  Qod  it  still  has 
a  prayer  for  men.  Triumphant  over  its  own  re- 


RELIGIOUS    PROSPERITY. 

demption,  it  can  not  be  satisfied  till  others  are  on 
the  highway,  pressing  nobly  toward  immortal  life. 
*'  Beloved,  I  wish  above  all  things  that  thou  mayest 
prosper,"  is  the  word  which  alone  expresses  the 
depth  and  direction  of  its  yearning. 

Passing  by  whatever  was  peculiar  in  the  circum- 
stances of  the  beloved  disciple  and  in  the  circum- 
stances surrounding  the  objects  of  his  solicitude,  let 
me  speak  of  the  desirableness  of  religious  prosper- 
ity and  the  conditions  upon  which  it  may  be  se- 
cured. 

Religious  prosperity  alone  is  real, —  all  else  is 
apparent.  Only  those  who  grow  in  wisdom  and 
moral  goodness  are  doing  well.  Houses  and  lands 
may  be  multiplied ;  influence  increased  ;  distinction 
won  ;  friends  may  flatter  and  the  world  applaud  ;  but 
it  is  all  shortly  over.  Outward  possessions  are  soon 
the  spoils  of  others,  or  the  sport  of  calamity.  The 
wealth  we  have  grasped  will '  slip  through  our  fin- 
gers, and  the  worth  of  the  soul  alone  make  up  our 
heritage.  Heart  wealth  is  all  that  is  known  and 
recognized  in  the  inventories  of  the  future.  There 
only  the  godlike  are  kings,  while  the  pretend- 
ers of  time,  long  revelling  in  fancied  royalty,  will 
find  their  gold  ashes,  and  their  moral  nakedness 
laid  bare.  All  mere  earthly  prosperity  is  a  tempo- 
rary cheat ;  that  which  is  truly  religious  is  an  eter- 
nal glory. 

Besides,  religion  has  a  blessing  for  this  world,  as 
well  as  for  the  other.  She  is  the  ally  of  all  good 
things,  the  friend  of  all  man's  interests.  She  smiles 


296  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

on  industry,  develops  enterprise,  invigorates  and 
inspires  the  planning  intellect,  and  makes  the  work- 
man's hand  cunning.  She  fills  the  horn  of  plenty, 
opens  the  eye  to  see  beauty  where  it  has  long  lain 
hidden,  lightens  the  load  of  care  and  brings  the 
peace  of  patience ;  she  restrains  passion,  sets  the 
conscience  to  rule  over  the  empire  of  life  and  har- 
monize elements  that  were  otherwise  in  chaos. 
"  Length  of  days  is  in  her  right  hand,  and  in  her 
left  hand,  riches  and  honor." 

With  true  religion  for  an  attendant,  life  is  a  hero's 
march,  and  death  the  translation  of  a  spirit  hasting 
heavenward.  Who  that  has  heard  its  benediction, 
felt  its  strength,  and  contemplated  its  full  bestow- 
ments,  but  would  yearn  for  others  to  take  the  same 
blessing,  and  rise  to  the  same  sphere  of  light?  No 
other  word  can  better  express  the  sentiment  that 
struggles  within,  than  this  :  "  Beloved,  I  wish  above 
all  things  that  thou  mayest  prosper."  The  same 
thing  is  true  of  a  community.  No  matter  what  ele- 
ments are  in  it.  It  is  a  sad  society  that  is  not  ruled 
by  the  fear  of  God.  You  can  not  trust  the  prosper- 
ity that  has  been  built  up  on  any  other  foundation 
than  Christian  righteousness.  It  may  look  well  to 
the  eye ;  so  did  the  Assyrian  palace  while  the  mon- 
arch was  boasting  over  the  wayward  power  that 
lifted  it  up.  But  a  divine  sentence  against  it  was 
even  then  dropping  down  from  Heaven;  and  the 
centuries  march  over  only  heaps  of  rubbish.  Re- 
ligious principle  alone  nurtures  integrity  in  business, 
elevates  industry  into  a  sacred  duty,  forbids  any 


RELIGIOUS    PROSPERITY. 

class  of  men  to  grow  fat  by  preying  on  their  neigh- 
bors, puts  double  dealing  and  demagogism  under 
ban,  excludes  vices,  and  makes  each  public  place  a 
school  for  both  intellect  and  heart.  Intelligence, 
taste,  refinement, —  admitting  these  to  be  possible 
where  Christianity  is  ignored ;  —  these  all  fail  as 
safeguards  against  evil  works,  against  treachery, 
presumption,  hatred  of  God  and  contempt  of  men. 
The  world  is  full  of  proofs  of  that;  and  history  tells 
no  story  with  greater  plainness.  Of  what  avail  that 
intelligence  is  claimed  and  possessed,  if  it  is  em- 
ployed to  authenticate  a  false  principle  and  control 
men  for  sinister  ends?  What  are  refinement  and 
taste  worth  if  they  are  employed  only  about  the 
altars  of  frivolity?  If  Christian  virtue  is  to  be 
scouted  from  a  community,  it  is  little  satisfaction  to 
know  that  it  was  driven  away  by  a  man  of  ripe 
scholarship,  or  dismissed  with  a  graceful  bow ;  or 
that  practical  atheism  is  set  up  with  impressive  cer- 
emonies. When  religion  is  put  away,  these  evil 
passions,  in  forms  attractive  or  disgusting,  come  in 
and  take  its  place.  Whoever,  therefore,  exerts 
his  influence  directly  or  indirectly  against  the  relig- 
ious prosperity  of  a  community,  is  warring  against 
all  the  elements  of  public  weal.  And,  on  the  other 
•hand,  every  Christian  heart  and  life  is  a  contribu- 
tion to  civil  quiet,  social  joy,  and  material  comfort. 
The  prayer  of  the  humblest  disciple,  offered  in  the 
secret  closet,  is  often  worth  more,  even  outwardly, 
to  a  community  than  a  hotly  contested  election,  or 
the  accumulation  of  a  million  dollars  additional  cap- 


298  GEORGE  TIFFANY  DAY. 

ital.  A  single  faithful  Christian  life  may  operate 
more  effectually  in  the  way  of  removing  poverty, 
and  bringing  comfort  to  wretched  hearts,  than  would 
the  establishment  of  a  new  branch  of  business  that 
added  at  once  fifty  per  cent,  to  the  population  and 
enterprise  of  the  neighborhood.  Whatever  else  any 
man  may  do,  if  he  throw  the  weight  of  his  influence 
against  religion,  he  is  striking  deadly  blows  at  pub- 
lic welfare,  and  providing  for  the  coming  of  calami- 
ties which  afflict  the  body  and  brutify  the  soul. 
Happy  sis  that  people — and  only  that  people  — 
whose  God  is  the  Lord.  All  outward  and  material 
interests  prosper  just  in  proportion  to  the  strength 
and  activity  of  the  Christian  element.  Every  de- 
cline in  spiritual  power  has  been  the  signal  for  new 
evils  to  rush  in  and  riot ;  and  if  religious  institutions 
ever  become  enfeebled  by  neglect,  or  crowded  out 
by  growing  worldliness,  you  may  be  sure  that  the 
tide  of  private  and  public  iniquity  will  have  full 
sway  ;  manliness  will  be  a  rare  quality,  the  taint  of 
corruption  will  be  left  with  the  heart  of  childhood. 
Let  Christianity,  on  the  other  hand,  find  sanctua- 
ries in  all  your  hearts  and  homes,  and  she  will 
make  the  first,  temples  of  peace,  and  the  last,  places 
of  plenty  and  joy.  Truth  will  then  spring  up  from 
the  earth,  and  righteousness  look  down  from  heav- 
en. But  what  are  the  conditions  of  this  religious 
prosperity,  which  so  lies  at  the  basis  of  every  other 
form  and  kind?  How  can  it  be  gained,  increased, 
and  preserved?  What  are  its  elements,  and  on 
what  terms  will  it  come? 


RELIGIOUS    PROSPERITY.  299 

In  all  I  have  to  say  I  take  it  for  granted  that  this 
blessing  is  the  gift  of  God.  *  He  awakens  penitence, 
forgives  sin,  strengthens  weakness,  keeps  courage, 
patience,  meekness  and  self-  denial  alive.  Without 
his  blessing,  all  is  vain.  But  his  gifts  are  always 
ready.  He  would  always  keep  the  windows  of 
heaven  open,  and  make  the  stream  of  blessing  flow 
to  us  without  cessation,  if  we  but  left  it  room  in  our 
hearts  and  lives.  Of  what  Heaven  must  do  I  need 
say  nothing ;  for  Heaven  is  always  doing,  or  anx- 
ious to  do.  Only  our  co  -  operation  is  needed, — 
that  given,  the  result  is  certain.  I  speak,  therefore, 
only  of  the  human  conditions, —  only  of  those  things 
which  depend  on  ourselves.  The  question,  then, 
comes  back  again,  What  is  necessary  on  your  part 
in  order  to  secure  religious  prosperity,  and  increase 
it?  I  may  be  answered  promptly  :  "  A  wise,  faith- 
ful and  talented  minister,  is  just  what  is  wanted. 
Let  such  a  man  come,  and  pray  and  preach,  exhort 
and  work ;  one  who  shall  care  for  the  flock  and  be 
careless  about  the  fleece  ;  whose  spirit  is  like  Paul's, 
—  self-  denying,  tender,  zealous  and  devout ;  who 
spares  no  time  nor  effort  needful  to  accomplish  his 
work;  who  never  gets  impatient  nor  uneasy ;  who 
turns  away  from  all  paths  of  worldly  honor  and 
gain ;  who  keeps  himself  free  from  all  worldly 
strife,  and  indulges  no  meddling  with  what  is  not 
of  his  sphere;  who  works  on,  day  after  day,  even 
if  he  must  work  alone,  in  the  very  spirit  with  which 
a  martyr  dies  ;  —  let  such  a  man  of  God  come,  and 
religion  will  flourish.  Such  a  laborer,  and  such  la- 


3<X>  GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

bors,  will  scatter  the  darkness,  bring  heavenly  light, 
make  Sundays  pleasant,  life  a  scene  of  daily  happi- 
ness, and  death  a  messenger  which  there  shall  be 
no  disposition  to  put  away." 

That  is,  perhaps,  your  answer.  Well,  it  is  true, 
according  to  Scripture,  that  God  has  chosen  by  the 
foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them  that  believe. 
A  regular  ministry  is  a  divine  appointment;  and 
history  testifies  that  true  religion  has  never  flour- 
ished to  any  considerable  extent  when  this  divine  ex- 
pedient has  been  set  aside.  I  need  not  stop  to  devel- 
op the  reason  of  this ;  it  is  enough  to  note  and  admit 
the  fact. 

Nor  can  it  be  doubted  that  they  who  enter  upon 
the  work  of  the  ministry  are  called  to  a  faithful, 
self-  denying  life,  that  their  aim  is  to  be  high  and 
holy,  their  spirit  consecrated,  their  hopes  based  on 
the  promise  of  God,  and  their  chief  reward  to  be 
sought  in  the  *'  Well  done  "  of  Heaven.  I  do  not 
deny  the  obligation  that  is  asserted,  nor  wish  to  de- 
press the  standard  of  ministerial  character  which 
the  highest  truth  sets  up.  But  can  any  one  tell 
why  it  is  claimed  that  ministers  are  bound  to  be 
more  holy  and  self-  denying  than  other  men?  Are 
there  two  laws,  and  two  Gospels,  one  for  the  pulpit 
and  one  for  the  pews?  Are  there  two  standards  of 
Christian  duty  —  one  for  the  pastor  and  the  other 
for  his  people?  Two  kinds  or  degrees  of  religion, 
the  clerical  religion,  and  the  lay  religion?  A  min- 
ister should  doubtless  possess  all  the  elements  that 
have  been  mentioned,  but  is  the  obligation  any  less 


RELIGIOUS    PROSPERITY.  3OI 

sacred  as  it  applies  to  those  who  do  not  occupy  the 
post  of  public  teacher?  Would  you  scorn  a  minis- 
ter who  was  not  meek,  prayerful,  earnest,  pure, 
faithful,  unselfish?  Why,  then,  should  you  not 
scorn  yourselves  when  any  such  lack  is  discovered? 
It  sounds,  I  confess,  a  little  strange,  and  a  little 
ludicrous  to  hear  a  mere  shrewd  getter  of  gain  wax- 
ing warm  and  earnest  in  a  lecture  upon  the  sin  of  a 
minister's  unwillingness  to  welcome  poverty ;  or  to 
hear  a  man  whose  home  is  a  palace,  and  whose 
table  groans  beneath  luxuries,  mutter  some- 
thing about  the  extravagance  and  pride  and  worldly 
conformity  of  the  clergy ;  or  a  merchant,  who 
makes  his  ledger  his  Bible,  and  who  knows  no  de- 
votion except  that  to  the  fluctuations  of  the  stock- 
market,  complain  of  the  coldness  of  the  Sunday 
sermons  and  the  formality  of  the  prayers ;  or  a  pol- 
itician, who  is  ready  to  break  the  tables  of  the  dec- 
alogue in  pieces  that  he  may  pelt  his  opponent  into 
defeat  with  the  fragments,  passionately  declaiming 
about  the  dishonor  and  demagogism  of  the  pulpit, 
when  it  says  that  sins  perpetrated  at  the  ballot- 
box  are  as  heinous  as  any  others ;  or  a  cold  -  heart- 
ed professor,  who  sleeps  in  his  seat  on  Sunday, 
and  whose  place  in  the  prayer  -  meeting  and 
closet  is  always  vacant,  intimating  that  until  the 
minister  grows  more  devoted  there  can  never  be  a 
revival.  But  I  need  not  specify  further.  So  long 
as  the  whole  responsibility  of  promoting  religion  is 
laid  off  on  the  minister,  so  long  there  will  be  blight 
and  mildew,  hoar-frost  and  ice.  His  devotedness 


3O2  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

can  not  atone  for  the  indifference  and  worldliness 
of  his  people  ;  his  prayers  can  not  pardon  nor  sanc- 
tify their  profanity ;  his  earnest  and  powerful 
preaching  can  not  excuse  their  irreligious  practices  ; 
his  arguments  will  never  avail  in  convincing  a 
prejudiced  world,  so  long  as  the  daily  deeds  of  his 
audience  declare  all  the  inferences  lies ;  his  yearn- 
ing can  never  draw  after  him  to  heaven  the  com- 
munity for  whose  welfare  he  is  ready  to  lay  down 
his  life,  while  they  are  tied  to  the  world  by  the  mill  - 
stones  of  sinful  custom ;  he  has  no  authority  by 
which  he  can  legalize  a  union  between  Christ  and 
Mammon ;  he  has  no  skill,  either  human  or  divine, 
by  which  he  can  bridge  over  the  chasm  between 
the  empire  of  Beelzebub  and  the  kingdom  of  God. 
He  may  endure  and  weep  like  Jeremiah,  sing  like 
David,  love  like  John,  work  like  Peter  and  preach 
like  Paul ;  and  yet  if  he  is  left  to  bear  responsibili- 
ties alone,  and  held  accountable,  exclusively,  for 
the  state  of  religion,  he  might  as  well  lay  down  his 
trumpet  ere  he  sounds  it,  and  so  save  his  breath  ; 
and  you  might  as  well  keep  the  money  in  your 
pockets  wherewith  you  seek  to  buy  the  grace  of 
God,  when  there  is  no  heart  to  receive  and  appro- 
priate it.  Your  earnest  and  responsible  co  -  opera- 
tion with  a  minister  of  simply  good  sense,  and  deep 
piety,  and  fair  abilities,  would  promise  far  more 
than  the  unaided  labors  of  a  monarch  of  thought, 
whose  glowing  speech  were  to  dazzle  you  every 
Sunday  like  a  shower  of  meteors. 

Besides,  there  is   a  great  temptation,  when  you 


RELIGIOUS    PROSPERITY.  303 

have  filled  your  pulpit  with  a  man  of  mark  and 
power  that  you  will  come  to  feel  that  the  provision 
for  religious  ends  is  adequate,  and  that  you  are 
called  on  to  do  no  more.  The  truth  has  now  a 
strong  defender ;  there  is  no  need  of  anxiety ;  it 
can  be  safely  trusted  in  his  hands.  You  are  sure 
the  sermons  will  be  good  and  able,  and  so  you  can 
sleep  during  the  delivery,  assured  that  no  false  doc- 
trines will  be  taught,  no  unseen  argument  adduced ; 
or  you  can  stay  away  from  the  sanctuary  and  the 
social  and  business  meetings,  satisfying  yourselves 
by  the  thought  that  all  will  go  on  properly  and  well. 
There  is  danger  that  you  will  simply  compliment 
instead  of  encouraging  ;  that  you  will  be  tempted  to 
deny  co  -  operation,  and  seek  to  atone  for  the  ne- 
glect by  multiplying  your  praise. 

Proud  of  your  minister,  you  may  give  him 
your  admiration,  instead  of  prayerful  help. 
Satisfied  with  having  him,  you  may  pay  little 
practical  deference  to  his  teaching.  I  hardly 
need  to  say  that  such  a  state  of  things  is  the 
most  disastrous  to  a  church',  and  most  disheartening 
to  a  true  minister.  Anything  which  diminishes 
your  owTn  sense  of  personal  responsibility,  and  any- 
thing which  induces  spiritual  indolence,  and  a  mere 
literary  taste  in  the  place  of  working  zeal  and  a 
yearning  for  the  manna  of  divine  and  saving  truth, 
will  bring  a  moral  night  -  mare  to  sit  upon  all  your 
spiritual  energies,  and  make  you  stand  like  a  sap- 
less tree,  beautiful  in  its  proportions,  but  lifeless  and 
decaying  secretly  at  the  heart.  And  you  may  be 


304  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

sure  it  is  a  sorry  recompense  for  a  faithful  and  ear- 
nest minister,  to  find  only  words  of  praise  for  his 
performances,  when  he  had  looked  long  and  prayer- 
fully for  penitence  and  duty.  A  well  expressed  and 
well  meant  eulogy  on  his  sermon  may  often  send 
him  home  to  his  study  and  his  closet  with  a  heart 
ready  almost  for  bursting ;  if  instead  he  could  only 
have  heard  the  eager  question  coming  up  between 
heart -sobs,  "  What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved?"  or  the 
deep  prayer,  mingled  with  tears,  "  God  be  merciful 
to  me  a  sinner,"  it  would  have  set  his  heart  beating 
with  a  joy  too  great  for  words,  too  grateful  to  be 
told  anywhere,  save  in  the  ear  of  God.  He  could 
spare  your  praises,  if  he  could  have  your  duty  and 
faithfulness.  But  they  are  in  danger  of  being  the 
poorest  instead  of  the  best  gifts  that  you  offer  to  the 
man  of  power.  You  may  not  mean  to  try  his  heart ; 
but  you  may  be  wringing  drops  of  blood  from  it 
when  you  supposed  yourselves  offering  grateful  in- 
cense. What  is  the  approval  of  your  intellect  and 
taste,  when  it  is  apparent  that  no  new  cord  has  been 
set  vibrating  in  the  heart'? 

I  should  say,  then,  that  you  make  no  certain  pro- 
vision for  spiritual  prosperity  by  securing  a  strong, 
intelligent,  instructive,  and  faithful  man  for  this 
pulpit.  It  is  not  of  the  first  importance  that  eminent 
mental  abilities  should  stand  here ;  though,  other 
things  being  equal,  that  is  desirable.  No  sphere 
demands  more  eminent  ability  than  this.  The  first 
minds  will  find  tasks  lofty  enough  for  their  powers. 
The  idea  that  the  pulpit  needs  only  third  or  fourth 


RELIGIOUS    PROSPERITY.  305 

rate  men  ;  and  that  a  young  man  of  eminent  attain- 
ments and  genius  is  excusable  for  refusing  the  min- 
istry in  favor  of  some  other  sphere,  is  preposterous. 
It  is  casting  contempt  on  the  divine  ordination  of 
preaching ;  it  is  degrading  the  Gospel,  and  impeach- 
ing Jesus  Christ.  Some  of  the  mightiest  minds 
have  stood  in  pulpits,  and  even  these  borrowed  half 
their  lustre  and  inspiration  from  their  functions.  A 
man  too  strong  and  eminent  in  ability  to  preach  the 
gospel !  Then  surely  there  is  no  work  on  earth  he 
can  touch  without  defilement;  there  is  no  ^seat  in 
heaven  high  enough  for  him,  unless  it  lifts  itself 
above  the  throne  of  Him  who  came  of  old  to  preach 
good  tidings  unto  the  meek  ! 

But  I  may  still  say  that  it  is  not  absolutely  essen- 
tial to  the  religious  prosperity  of  a  community  that 
it  have  one  of  these  great  souls  in  its  pulpit.  If  he 
be  sound  in  judgment  and  doctrine,  apt  to  teach,  in- 
corruptible in  heart,  prayerful,  laborious,  ready  to- 
endure  hardness  for  his  Master's  sake, —  he  brings 
all  that  is  essential.  If  he  can  but  secure  your  ear- 
nest co  -  operation,  if  you  can  be  depended  on  to 
second  his  efforts,  supply  his  deficiencies,  share  his 
burdens,  and  help  him  in  steadying  the  ark  which 
he  alone  is  too  weak  to  control,  it  is  fitting  to  wel- 
come him  as  a  blessing  to  you  and  yours.  With 
that  co  -  operation,  such  a  man  may  witness  relig- 
ious results  such  as  a  solitary  pulpit  toiler,  mighty 
as  he  may  be  in  word  and  deed,  would  wait  for  in 
vain. 

May  I  add  that  a  congregation  does  not  always 


306  GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

stop  to  think  upon  how  many  apparently  trifling 
things  a  minister's  courage,  hope,  faith,  and  success 
may  depend.  You  may  suppose  he  is,  or  should  be, 
lifted  above  all  ordinary  influences,  and  find  stimu- 
lus in  heaven,  when  a  hundred  things  combine  to 
cheat  him  of  it  on  earth.  Repeated  absences  from 
your  seats  for  the  most  frivolous  reasons ;  —  a  slight 
indisposition,  a  few  clouds,  a  moist  side  -  walk,  the 
call  of  a  friend,  a  little  weariness  induced  by  the 
excessive  worldly  toil  of  the  week,  or  a  desire  to 
husband  the  strength  and  so  be  fitted  for  the  highest 
business  efficiency  to  -  morrow  —  you  do  not  always 
think,  perhaps,  how  much  there  may  be  in  this  to 
wear  away  the  patience  and  clip  the  wings  of  hope. 
You  expect  him  to  fill  his  place  and  meet  his  engage- 
ment, cost  whatever  of  effort  it  may  ;  is  it  strange  that 
he  should  be  disappointed  at  your  vacant  seats,  or 
your  late  assembling  even  when  you  choose  to  be 
there  ?  If,  the  hour  comes  and  the  services  must  be 
commenced  with  but  a  third  of  the  audience  pres- 
ent, and  the  service  interrupted  almost  constantly  by 
the  crowding  in  of  absentees,  is  it  strange  that  the 
quiet  of  his  own  spirit  should  be  disturbed,  and  the 
interest  he  had  nurtured  by  prayerful  preparation 
should  be  sadly  interfered  with?  How  much  a  full 
house  on  an  unpleasant  Sunday  would  bring  sun- 
shine to  the  pastor's  heart;  how  regular  and  prompt 
attendance,  such  as  vindicates  that  religious  duties 
are  something  more  than  matters  of  convenience,  and 
that  they  have  taken  hold  of  principle  and  conscience, 
will  stimulate  the  spirit.  The  absentees  on  any 


RELIGIOUS    PROSPERITY.  307 

cloudy  day  may  be  the  very  persons  whom  the  pas- 
tor had  in  mind  in  the  preparation  of  the  sermon  on 
which   his  best  efforts  have   been  expended;  is  it 
strange  that  the  idea  of  fruitless  toil  should  occur  to 
him,  as  he  looks  for  your  answering  faces  and  be- 
holds vacancy?     Is  it  strange  that  his  next  effort 
should  have  less  heart  and  hope,  and  his  next  Sun- 
day's service  should  seem  wanting  in  unction?     Do 
you  say  these  are  little  things,  unworthy  of  a  min- 
ister's attention ;  that  he  should  be  wholly  above  the 
influence  of  such  petty  annoyances  ?     Perhaps  so ; 
and  yet  every  life  is  mostly  made  up  of  little  things  ; 
and  in  things  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  soul, 
the  least  of  them  all  never  seems  slight  to  an   ear- 
nest pastor.     Remember,  too,  that  a  pastor's  whole 
being  is  bound  up  with  his  religious  sphere    and 
labors ;  that  he  may  not  turn  away  to  other  things 
for   relief  when  his  religious  relations  seem   only 
sources  of  pain.     He  is  allowed  to  have  no  worldly 
projects  to  which  he  may  devote  himself  for  relaxa- 
tion and  relief;  he  lives  his  heart -life  in  the  circle 
of  spiritual  things ;  and  when  these  suggest  nothing 
but   anxiety,    disappointment   and   fear,    still    they 
must  make  up  his  world.     He  has  no  gains  but  re- 
ligious gains ;  growing  virtues  are  the  only  harvests 
he  reaps ;  Christian  hearts  and  lives  around  him  are 
his  only  badges  of  honor.     Carelessness  about  the 
interests  of  religion,  the  falling  away  to  worldliness 
and  sin   among  those  to  whom  he  has  looked  as 
trophies  of  the  truth,  is  to  him  what  the  sinking  of 
the  vessel  is  to  the  captain  who  has  all  his  reputation 


308  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

and  his  fortune  invested  in  her.  I  mention  these 
things  because  they  are  small,  and  being  so  are  in 
special  danger  of  being  overlooked ;  and  yet,  small 
as  they  are  in  your  eyes,  they  have  immensely  more 
to  do  with  a  pastor's  hope  and  ambition,  faith- 
fulness and  success  than  perhaps  any  of  you  ever 
dreamed.  If  your  minister  is  to  do  any  consider- 
able portion  of  the  work  I  have  supposed  you  may 
assign  to  him,  he  needs  and  must  have  the  encour- 
agement it  would  cost  you  almost  nothing  to  give, 
and  yet  without  which  his  spirit  is  poor,  and  often 
irresolute.  I  am  not  attempting  to  defend  or  excuse 
a  minister's  timidity,  or  misanthropy,  or  croaking.  A 
man  who  has  God's  word  to  speak,  and  God's  prom- 
ise to  stimulate  him  in  doing  it,  who  has  allies  in  all 
the  universe,  and  witnesses-  to  the  truth  of  what  he 
speaks  even  in  the  most  stupid  souls  before  and 
around  him ;  who  has  all  history  endorsing  the 
principles  he  advocates,  and  all  eternity  waiting  to 
witness  their  triumph ;  who  finds  appeals  to  be 
faithful  coming  up  to  him  from  all  the  spots  where 
martyrs  put  on  their  singing  robes  and  begin  the 
chant  of  the  skies,  and  before  whose  vision  the 
gates  of  heaven  are  daily  swinging  to  tell  him  how 
near  he  is  to  his  coronation,  —  such  a  man  should 
carry  a  heart  so  brave  that  it  can  defy  all  enemies, 
and  a  purpose  so' firm  that  no  strain  should  ever 
make  it  quiver.  The  Lord  of  hosts  is  with  him  ; 
the  God  of  Jacob  is  his  refuge.  Let  him  work  on, 
human  though  he  is,  just  where  and  as  his  Master 
bids  him,  changing  his  methods,  and  trying  new  ex- 


RELIGIOUS    PROSPERITY.  309 

pedients ;  selecting  a  new  spot  in  the  vineyard,  if 
he  must ;  but  ever  refusing  with  Christian  obstinacy 
either  to  submit  or  flee.  That  is  for  him.  -—But  it 
is  not  for  you,  if  such  a  man  shall  ever  come  among 
you,  yearning  for  your  welfare  as  an  angel,  and 
preaching  as  one  of  the  old  prophets,  — it  is  not  for 
you  to  leave  him,  on  any  pretense,  to  stagger  be- 
neath the  load  of  moral  responsibility  while  you 
leave  it  untouched,  —  a  load  which  will  prove  heavy 
enough  when  every  arm  is  lifting,  and  every  life 
crying  courage. 

There  is  another  vital  thing  :  The  maintenance 
of  the  principles  of  Christian  righteousness,  against 
all  attacks  of  subtlety  and  power,  in  defiance  of  all 
hazards,  and  at  the  risk  of  all  outward  and  tempo- 
rary losses. 

This  is  so  plain  a  matter  that  it  ought  to  require 
nothing  more  than  a  simple  statement ;  but  unfortu- 
nately between  what  ought  to  be  and  what  is,  there 
is  often  a  wide,  deep,  and  almost  impassable  chasm. 
What  the  pulpit  shall  speak,  has  been  clearly  indi- 
cated by  the  divine  commission,  and  the  irrepealable 
law.  What  the  church  shall  do,  has  not  at  all  been  left 
to  its  discretion.  It  is  to  destroy  the  temporizing 
spirit  so  prevalent  in  the  world  that  Christianity  has 
been  commissioned  and  inaugurated.  She  can  ad- 
mit no  human  dictation,  and  strike  hands  with  no 
human  leader  who  substitutes  policy  for  principle, 
and  craft  for  courage.  Righteous  principle  has 
well  nigh  been  driven  from  the  world ;  the  only  de- 
sign of  Christian  institutions  is  to  provide  it  a  sane- 


3IO  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

tuary  and  crown  it  royal  even  amid  the  sneers  of 
the  world.  And  when  a  body,  calling  itself  Chris- 
tian, truckles  before  power ;  or  is  bought  with  a 
bribe  ;  or  dragooned  into  the  train  of  a  demagogue 
in  whatever  sphere  he  acts ;  or  stoops  from  its  true 
position  to  court  patronage  ;  or  perverts  truth  and 
judgment  to  increase  its  popularity  and  keep  off 
outward  dangers ;  or  panders  to  a  false  sentiment ; 
or  connives  at  popular  wickedness ;  or  goes  out  of 
its  way  to  gain  the  smile  of  an  unprincipled  indi- 
vidual or  faction  ;  or  consults  the  pulse  of  public 
feeling  rather  than  the  leadings  of  the  Spirit  of 
Truth,  —  any  body  that  will  do  that,  is  not  only 
faithless  before  its  duty,  but  doing  what  it  can  to 
sanctify,  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  the  very  crimes 
against  which  its  very  existence  was  called  forth  to 
protest ;  forming  a  league  with  the  very  sins  it  was 
set  to  exterminate  ;  and  taking  up  arms  against  the 
Ruler  whose  sway  it  was  sent  to  make  universal. 
By  such  a  process  of  trimming,  numbers,  wealth 
and  present  peace  may  be  gained,  but  each  man  so 
won  is  not  an  ally, but  an  enemy  in  the  camp  ;  every 
dollar  so  obtained  will  drag  downward  like  Judas's 
thirty  pieces  of  silver,  and  the  quiet  is  only  the  lull 
that  goes  before  the  earthquake.  The  larger  such 
a  body  grows  by  such  methods,  the  greater  evil  it 
becomes.  The  more  that  are  attracted  by  its  out- 
ward impressiveness,  the  more  rapidly  does  the 
work  of  moral  perversion  go  on.  Its  outward  beauty 
covers  worse  loathsomeness  than  the  garnishing  on 
the  old  prophets'  sepulchres.  Externally,  it  may 


RELIGIOUS    PROSPERITY.  311 

appear  a  splendid  temple  ;  but  within  the  air  is  thick 
and  heavy,  where  souls  are  strangled  while  they 
try  to  breathe.  Of  all  the  curses  that  came  leaping 
from  the  old  prophet's  lips,  there  is  not  one,  scorch- 
ing wherever  it  touches,  like  those  flung  at  the  head 
of  an  apostate  church,  which  had  been  set  to  tell 
and  live  all  God's  truth,  and  war  against  every 
spoken  or  acted  lie,  but  which  had  held  back  the 
verity  and  smiled  on  the  falsehood.  And  the  curse 
will  keep  repeating  .itself  and  executing  itself  on 
every  body  calling  itself  Christian,  which  repeats 
the  experiment,  and  lives  over  the  crime,  —  which 
seeks  for  peace  at  the  expense  of  its  purity,  popu- 
larity by  discarding  principle,  and  salvation  by  giv- 
ing heed  to  Satan. 

Nor  is  it  enough  that  you  simply  tolerate  freedom 
in  the  pulpit ;  that  you  license  your  pastor  to  be  as 
courageous  as  he  dares,  as  faithful  as  he  feels  he 
must.  In  these  days  of  dictation  from  the  pews  to 
the  pulpit,  that  is  something ;  even  that  you  consent 
to  the  utterance  of  the  whole  law  is  a  ground  of 
thankfulness,  when  grave  senators  hurl  philippics  at 
the  ministry,  and  the  daily  press  writhes  in  contor- 
tions to  develop  its  spite  against  the  occupants  of 
the  pulpit.  That  is  something,  when  influential  citi- 
zens mutter  in  their  pews  at  quotations  from  the 
Bible.  It  is  something  for  a  religious  society  to 
consent  at  all  for  its  minister  to  lay  bare  all  sins, — 
organic  and  legalized,  as  well  as  others  that  hide 
for  shame  in  darkness.  It  is  still  more  when  that 
consent  is  given  not  because  it  must  be, —  not 


312  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

because  the  pastor  would  spurn  a  shackle,  and  the 
attempt  to  impose  it  reveal  glaring  inconsistencies 
and  make  the  people  cry  "  shame'* — but  because  it 
is  felt  to  be  the  right  of  the  minister,  the  duty  of  the 
people,  the  condition  of  prosperity ;  because  the 
soul  feels  that  nothing  but  faithful  dealing  can  save 
it  from  the  grasp  of  evil,  or  render  the  pulpit  any- 
thing more  than  a  mock  battery,  or  a  stage  for  the 
display  of  moral  fire  -  works  for  the  public  diver- 
sion. 

But  all  that  is  not  enough.  Christian  men  must 
stand  by  this  faithfulness ;  must  defend  and  exalt 
this  plain  -  dealing ;  must  regard  that  as  the  vital 
thing,  and  as  that  for  which  chiefly  it  has  been  or- 
ganized, and  in  view  of  which,  alone,  it  deserves  still 
to  live.  Nay,  a  policy  must  be  inaugurated  and  ad- 
hered to  through  all  stages  of  experience  and  ordeals 
of  trial. 

When  a  body,  no  matter  how  religious  seems  its 
spirit,  how  touching  its  history,  how  reverend  its 
aspect,  ceases  to  retain  and  work  out  that  spirit,  its 
locks  of  strength  are  shorn  off,  its  force  is  gone,  its 
arms  paralyzed, —  it  is  hastening  to  decay.  One 
thing  must  be  done,  at  whatever  cost ;  and  that  is 
to  stand  by  the  truth,  to  make  no  compromises  for 
the  sake  of  gain,  to  yield  up  no  faithfulness,  what- 
ever bribes  are  offered,  or  clamors  arise,  or  perils 
threaten,  or  graves  yawn.  Better  a  thousand  times 
to  die  in  martyrdom  for  truth  and  Christian  princi- 
ple, than  grow  fat  on  the  food  procured  by  dishonor. 
Nay,  death  can  not  come  to  a  true  church.  When 


RELIGIOUS    PROSPERITY.  313 

it  loses  its  faith  only  it  perishes ;  retaining  that,  it 
lives  immortal.  Its  example  cries  ever,  like  the 
blood  of  Abel,  from  the  ground  where  men  had 
built  for  it  a  sepulchre.  Its  spirit  walks  the  earth, 
a  perpetual  presence  and  power,  singing  still  with 
martyrs,  and  making  the  prayer  of  a  hundred  clos- 
ets more  fervent,  and  teaching  bereavement  in  a 
hundred  dwellings  how  to  look  up  calmly  to 
heaven.  It  shall  be  a  force  through  all  time,  and 
eternity  shall  never  be  weary  of  telling  its  inspiring 
tale. 

Religiously,  inactivity  is  death ;  to  stand  still  is 
to  stagnate.  He  who  resolves  to  make  his  religion 
cost  him  in  the  way  of  thought,  of  time,  of  effort,  of 
self-denial,  of  money,  of  patience,  of  skill,  as  little 
as  possible,  may  be  able  to  get  along  cheaply, — 
but  the  religion  he  gets  will  be  only  of  the  cheapest 
and  poorest  kind,  and  the  quantity  will  be  very 
small  at  that.  He  who  aims  at  no  large  religious 
results,  works  for  and  expects  none  such,  will  reach 
none.  That  is  certainly  plain  enough  in  respect  to 
an  individual  experience ;  it  is  just  as  true  when 
men  act  in  bodies,  as  when  they  act  alone.  The 
Christian  element  lives  and  acts  only  by  expansion 
and  diffusion.  When  men  get  thoroughly  chilled 
in  winter,  they  often  feel  a  pleasant  quiet  creeping 
over  them,  that  makes  them  disposed  to  lie  down 
and  sleep, —  the  tendency  is  almost  irresistible  ;  but 
to  sleep  is  to  die.  The  fact  has  its  analogies. 
They  who  are  satisfied  with  what  they  have  done 
or  are  doing,  whether  in  the  domain  of  their  own 


314  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

personal  life,  or  in  the  field  o.f  Christian  activity 
without ;  who  feel  the  pleasantness  of  self-  satisfac- 
tion stealing  on,  only  indicate  benumbed  spiritual 
energies,  instead  of  proving  that  they  have  finished 
their  duty  nobly  and  been  released  by  the  Master 
from  farther  toil.  And  the  more  fully  they  are  sat- 
isfied, the  more  like  death  is  the  lethargy. 

The  whole  genius  of  Christianity  is  aggressive. 
It  never  is  satisfied  or  wearied  out.  One  object 
gained  or  defeated,  it  eagerly  pursues  another. 
Reaching  one  heart,  it  makes  that  a  helper  in  its  fu- 
ture work.  Subduing  one  evil  influence,  it  conse- 
crates that  and  makes  it  an  ally  in  the  work  of  over- 
coming. It  goes  on  enlarging  its  plans  and  multi- 
plying its  trophies.  It  is  like  the  leaven  working  in 
through  the  mass  till  its  influence  permeates  the 
whole.  Every  gain  in  ability  and  opportunity  im- 
poses a  new  task,  and  prompts  to  a  higher  service. 
Men  under  its  influence  acquire  only  that  they  may 
use  ;  they  crave  means  and  strength  only  that  they 
may  be  employed  about  some  nobler,  broader  and 
more  important  object. 

They  strangely  mistake  or  pervert  the  spirit  of  re- 
ligion who  think  of  Christian  institutions,  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  the  ordinances  of 
God's  house,  as  meant  simply  to  minister  to  their 
gratification,  as  affording  an  equivalent  in  pleasant 
experiences  for  the  money  they  pay  for  them  ;  — 
who  regard  it  as  an  instance  of  honorable  and  suc- 
cessful trade.  Are  all  questions  of  service  for  the 
church  to  be  settled  by  interest  tables,  by  questions 


RELIGIOUS    PROSPERITY.  315 

of  economic  exchange  and  shrewd  business  barter? 

To  the  poor  the  Gospel  is  preached, —  was  one  of 
the  testimonies  to  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus.  The 
sympathy  and  benevolence  of  the  Christian  spirit, 
naturally  wrought  out,  will  always  reveal  a  similar 
result.  Religion  is  the  one  grand  want  of  all  souls 
—  it  may  be  said  to  be  especially  the  want  of  those 
whose  share  of  outward  favors  is  the  poorest  and 
smallest.  Everything  that  can  be  done  to  put  the 
gospel  within  the  reach  of  the  whole  people  —  nay, 
everything  that  can  be  done  to  interest  them  in  it, 
and  bring  them  regularly  and  systematically  under 
its  influence,  is  demanded  at  the  hands  of  all  who 
can  aid  in  the  work.  It  does  not  answer  to  wait  till 
they  come,  crowded  forward  by  courage  or  the 
sense  of  necessity,  to  beg  for  the  smallest  of  its 
crumbs  of  comfort.  Every  consistent  thing  that 
can  be  done  to  bring  them  to  the  sanctuary  regular- 
ly and  keep  them  there,  is  but  the  plainest  and  sim- 
plest duty. 

It  is  not  in  the  power  of  one  person  or  two  to 
bring  such  a  result  to  pass.  When  a  religious  soci- 
ety has  become  strong,  stable,  and  influential,  its 
corporate  action  gives  character  to  the  religious 
effort  expended  there.  A  pastor  can  not  inaugu- 
rate any  new  and  progressive  policy  without  their 
co-operation.  The  idea  of  religion,  obtained  by 
the  general  community,  will  be  determined  far  more 
by  what  they  do  than  by  what  he  says.  He  is  their 
servant,  and  is  considered  such  among  the  people, 
quite  as  much  as  he  is  a  servant  of  the  Lord.  He 


316  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

may  declare  that  religion  is  love,  good  -will ;  that  it 
destroys  selfishness,  ennobles  life,  dedicates  men  to 
the  welfare  of  their  kind ;  that  it  enthrones  all 
sacred  principles ;  that  the  sanctuary  is  a  school 
for  the  heart, —  the  temple  where  God  comes  near 
with  help  and  mercy  to  save ;  that  life  is  a  failure 
save  as  the  baptism  comes  to  it  from  on  high,  and 
that  then  it  is  a  thing  of  beauty  and  glory, —  a  per- 
petual, affectionate  and  earnest  beckoning  of  all  the 
world  upward  to  heaven.  He  may  tell  them  all 
that,  with  fervent  words  and  tears,  and  sanctify  his 
effort  with  exhortation  and  prayer.  But  if  he  should 
meet  an  incredulous  look  ;  if  he  should  be  asked 
where  is  this  zeal  for  God  among  those  who  have 
built  up  religious  institutions ;  if  it  were  asked 
where  is  this  working  energy,  this  planning  enter- 
prise for  Christian  objects,  this  working  faith  in  the 
divine  promise,  this  unselfish  and  large-hearted 
philanthropy ;  where  is  the  proof  of  this  felt  impor- 
tance of  bringing  the  whole  people  within  the  circle 
of  sanctuary  influences ;  where  among  all  the  mul- 
titude who  bear  the  name  of  Christ  are  they  who 
plan,  and  labor,  and  deny  self,  and  spend  time,  en- 
ergy, money  and  zeal  to  make  the  gospel  work  like 
leaven- through  the  whole  community?  If  he  were 
asked  these  questions,  and  were  compelled  to  be 
silent  or  confess  that  his  picture  was  very  far  from 
being  a  copy  of  the  religious  body  with  which  he 
was  identified, —  what  then?  Would  he  be  obliged 
to  retire,  owning  his  defeat,  and  feeling  that  he  had 
perhaps  only  brought  out  and  confirmed  the  preju- 


RELIGIOUS    PROSPERITY.  317 

dice  against  whose  barrier  his  effort  must  still  storm 
in  vain  ?  How  shall  he  prove  that  Christianity  is 
benevolent^  earnest,  skillful,  self-denying  and 
laborious  ;  having  faith  in  the  promise  of  God  which 
pledges  the  truth  a  triumph,  and  which  is  bent  on 
seeing  the  fulfillment? 

Of  all  places  in  this  world,  it  seems  to  me  a  Chris- 
tian church  and  society  is  the  place  where  to  find 
the  active  heroism,  and  the  majestic  air  of  human 
life.  There  is  where  all  the  manly  qualities  might 
be  expected  to  sit  in  convention  to  devise,  and  then 
to  rise  up  and  work  with  a  harmonious  energy  and  a 
sublime  purpose.  There  whatever  is  beautiful  and 
great  in  the  human  character  is  expected  to  appear. 
If  there  is  thought  in  the  intellect,  it  may  be 
expected  to  come  out  bold,  strong  and  clear.  If 
there  be  high  and  generous  impulses,  they  may 
be  expected  to  give  ample  proof  of  their  pres- 
ence. If  a  nice  sense  of  justice,  there  it  may  well 
poise  its  delicate  balance  and  weigh  out  equity. 
If  there  be  enterprise,  what  other  sphere  so  fitting 
for  its  tasks?  If  an  unselfish  whole  -  heartedness 
be  anywhere  in  this  world,  there  we  might  look  for 
it  to  thrill  our  nerves,  and  make  the  tears  start  in 
sympathy,  and  the  heart  pay  homage  unconscious- 
ly. And  so  on  the  other  hand,  how  natural  to  think 
of  such  a  place  as  one  from  which  all  narrowness 
of  view,  all  petty  jealousies,  all  mere  dollar  and  cent 
shrewdness,  all  scheming  for  sinister  ends,  are  driv- 
en away  by  the  simple  power  of  moral  repulsion  ! 

That  ideal  society  and  church  haunts  my  thought 


318  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

perpetually.  There  is  that  within  me  which  tells  me 
it  is  possible  ;  and,  my  hope  has  struggled  long  to 
see  it  actualized  on  earth.  More  than  once  an  in- 
ner prophecy  has  whispered  to  me  that  it  shall  yet 
appear.  Here  and  there  a  soul  alive  to  all  that  is 
good,  and  dead  to  sordidness,  tells  me  that  the  ele- 
ments of  the  portrait  are  even  now  found  on  earth. 
And  along  the  track  of  departed  centuries,  I  see 
the  foot  -  prints  of  those  whose  legacy  is  an  assur- 
ance that,  even  here,  life  may  be  emancipated  from 
the  bondage  to  the  flesh.  Above  all,  the  life  of  Him 
whose  walk  on  earth  voiced  the  old  prophecies  with 
a  tone  that  rings  ever  louder, —  that  life  tells  me  of 
a  Power  which  can  and  will  work  until  divinity  be- 
comes incarnate  in  the  church  he  inhabits,  as  it  was 
once  in  Him. 

Take  the  mantle, —  broad  enough  to  cover  the 
world, —  which  he  wore,  for  your  radiant  vestment. 
Make  Christian  enterprise  and  benevolence  actual 
things.  Make  religious  interests  the  ground  of  em- 
inent purpose,  the  sphere  of  your  noblest  endeavors, 
the  occasion  for  your  largest  generosity.  Then 
how  slumbering  souls  will  leap  with  life !  How 
fear  and  distrust  will  yield  to  hope  and  faith  !  How 
mountains  of  difficulty  will  change  into  clouds  of 
mist  through  which  the  star  of  promise  will  look 
to  greet  you !  How  cynical  lips  will  close  up  in 
silence,  and  croaking  prophets  turn  their  curses 
into  blessing  !  How  prejudice  will  melt,  and  co  - 
operation  hasten  to  you  !  Heroic  souls  will  hail 
you  from  afar  as  allies  and  brethren,  and  true  men 


CHRIST'S  VITAL  RELATIONS  TO  MEN.        319 

turn  to  you  in  their  thought,  drinking  in  your  in- 
spiration whenever  a  strong  word  is  to  be  spoken  or 
a  brave  deed  done.  Then  would  be  realized  relig- 
ious prosperity. 


II. 

CHRIST'S  VITAL  RELATIONS  TO  MEN.* 

tl  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches:  He  that  abideth  in  me 
and  I  in  him,  the  same  bringeth  forth  much  fruit:  for  without 
me  ye  can  do  nothing.  "  John  15  :  5. 

In  the  early  summer,  especially,  Nature  every- 
where gives  emphasis  to  the  illustration  of  the  con- 
ditions of  spiritual  life,  which  is  found  in  this 
fifteenth  chapter  of  John's  Gospel,  where  Christ  sets 
himself  forth  as  the  Vine  and  his  disciples  as  the 
branches.  The  illustration  is  equally  forcible  and 
beautiful.  The  branches  that  maintain  their  vital 
connection  with  the  parent  stalk  are  full  of  vigor. 
The  boughs  are  green  with  foliage,  each  twig  is 
bursting  into  buds,  and  all  the  buds  are  flashing 
into  blossoms.  Roses  are  blushing  as  if  at  their 
own  beauty ;  honeysuckles  clamber  up  the  lattices 
and  breathe  fragrance  in  at  every  open  window  ; 
the  lily  puts  on  the  robes  which  no  attire  of  eastern 
monarchs  can  rival  ;  every  bush  by  the  road -side  is 
hanging  out  its  bannerets ;  the  fruit-trees  already 

*Preached  at  New  Hampton  before  ths  Society  of  Theological  Research 
Jvuy  lu,  laoo.  • 


320  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

bend  beneath  the  weight  of  promises  hastening  into 
fulfillment,  and  the  most  barren  mountains  are 
carrying  verdure  far  up  their  sides  toward  the  crest, 
or  bursting  out  into  miniature  oases  wherever  a  little 
tuft  of  grass  can  push  its  way  up  through  the  crev- 
ices of  the  rock.  The  brownest  heaths  grow 
beautiful,  and  the  mosses  upon  the  stone  gather 
new  greenness.  And  all  these  struggles  and  swell- 
ings and  triumphs  of  life  owe  themselves  to  the  or- 
ganic unity  of  vegetation ;  —  the  stem  keeps  its  hold 
upon  the  root,  the  branch  abides  in  the  vine,  the 
loftiest  twig  preserves  its  vital  connection  with  the 
deepest  and  minutest  radicle. 

Sever  the  thriftiest  branch,  and  the  sap  stagnates 
in  the  channels,  the  chemical  processes  that  went 
on  without  interruption  are  suspended,  the  twigs 
lose  their  flexibility  and  then  stiffen  into  brittleness, 
the  foliage  wilts,  and  decay  and  decomposition  come 
in  to  end  the  process.  No  artificial  appliances  avail. 
Cement  or  string  may  keep  the  member  in  its  old 
position,  but  they  can  not  restore  nor  preserve  the 
vitality.  The  stream  of  life  has  been  cut  off  from 
the  fountain,  and  so  the  channels  must  run  dry. 

How  different,  too,  is  this  life  of  nature  from  the 
best  and  highest  imitations  of  it  in  the  spheres  of 
art !  The  best  painting  on  the  canvas  is  a  poor 
thing  compared  with  the  landscape  which  it  seeks 
to  reproduce.  The  grass  in  the  picture  has  no  mo- 
tion ;  the  clouds  keep  their  shapes  day  after  day ; 
the  brook  neither  sparkles  nor  sings  ;  there  is  no 
murmur  through  the  forest ;  the  shadows  cast  by 


CHRIST'S  VITAL  RELATIONS  TO  MEN.        321 

the  sun  neither  lengthen  nor  change  ;  the  night  dims 
the  scene  with  no  unusual  suggestiveness,  and  the 
morning  floods  it  with  no  new  splendor.  An  oak 
in  a  pasture  elaborated  by  the  chemistry  of  a  hun- 
dred seasons,  is  a  thousand  times  nobler  than  a 
cedar  of  Lebanon  in  a  picture  -  gallery,  built  up  of 
painter's  pigments.  A  rose  of  wax,  however  skill- 
fully fashioned,  can  not  be  compared  with  the  queen 
of  the  parterre  swinging  in  the  breezes  of  June. 
The  painted  cluster  of  cherries  which  tempted  the 
bird  to  the  window  where  it  hung,  how  vastly  in- 
ferior was  it  to  the  product  of  the  fruit  tree,  which 
would  have  fed  instead  of  cheating,  and  called  out 
a  new  hymn  of  thanksgiving  from  the  throat  of  the 
warbler.  By  so  much  as  substance  is  better  than 
show,  as  realities  are  superior  to  shams,  as  great 
deeds  are  above  skillful  jugglery,  as  spontaneous 
movement  is  to  be  preferred  to  automatic  impulse, 
as  a  leap  of  life  signifies  more  than  a  galvanic  con- 
tortion, by  so  much  are  vital  products  to  be  chosen 
rather  than  mechanical,  and  God's  inspiration  before 
man's  philosophy. 

In  these  words  of  Christ,  that  show  his  vital  rela- 
tion to  the  true  life  of  the  human  soul,  are  stated 
both  the  highest  fact  and  the  deepest  philosophy  of 
the  Gospel.  All  genuine  spiritual  life  is  the  result 
of  that  vital  influence  which  is  poured  from  the  di- 
vine heart  into  the  currents  of  the  human  spirit. 
The  amount  of  this  influence  received  and  appro- 
priated measures  the  strength  of  the  religious 
character  and  the  faithfulness  of  the  religious  life. 


322  GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

Without  this,  the  soul  is  weak  and  effort  ineffectual ; 
with  it,  even  frail  natures  become  strong,  and  exer- 
tion that  seemed  to  promise  little,  issues  in  achieve- 
ments which  wake  the  wonder  of  men  and  win  the 
smile  of  God. 

Vitality  is  the  test  of  every  thing.  Whatever 
helps  us  does  so  by  adding  to  our  life.  All  true 
teachers  quicken ;  —  they  are  not  set  simply  to 
soothe  and  subdue.  We  do  not  want  powers  crush- 
ed out,  but  rendered  normal  and  consecrated  to  vigor- 
ous work.  The  test  of  a  system  or  a  sermon  is  its 
power  to  quicken  the  recipient  and  hearer.  Anything 
that  sets  fettered  powers  free,  that  expands  the 
sphere  of  thought,  that  opens  new  channels  of  en- 
terprise, that  exalts  aim,  that  solidifies  purpose,  that 
enlarges  the  play  of  imagination,  that  makes  the 
.movements  of  the  will  resolute,  and  thus  increases 
the  dynamic  forces  of  men,  is  set  down  as  a  bless- 
ing and  a  condition  of  real  gain.  The  whole  plan 
of  the  world  is  such  that  it  is  meant  evidently  to 
stimulate  and  normalize  the  human  powers.  The 
hiding  of  resources  that  they  may  be  sought  for ; 
.the  curse  and  dishonor  put  upon  selfishness  and 
indolence ;  the  reward  held  out  to  a  wise  industry  ; 
the  victories  promised  to  persevering  toil ;  the  joys 
•that  blossom  in  the  pathway  of  learning  and  dis- 
covery ;  the  honors  that  wait  as  a  crown  of  heroism  ; 
the  monuments  which  men  build  in  their  hearts  to 
philanthropy ;  the  benedictions  wherewith  all  good 
men  hallow  human  saintship  ;  —  all  this  shows  that 
souls  were  meant  to  find  stimulants  rather  than  ano- 


CHRIST'S  VITAL  RELATIONS  TO  MEN.        323 

dynes  in  the  experience  of  life.  And  it  is  Christ 
himself  who  says,  "  I  am  come  that  they  might 
have  life,  and  that  they  might  have  it  more  abun- 
dantly." "Go,  work,"  is  the  Master's  commission 
whenever  he  finds  a  teachable  and  loyal  heart,  not, 
" Lie  down  and  dream."  "Take  up  thy  bed  and 
walk,"  is  his  cry  to  the  palsied  cripple ;  and  the 
mandate  was  aimed  more  at  the  torpid  soul  than  at 
the  droning  nerves  or  the  flaccid  muscles.  And  he 
vitalized  common  natures  till  they  became  historic 
and  wonderful.  Peter  had  scarcely  been  known, 
save  about  the  shores  of  Gennesaret,  till  Jesus  com- 
missioned him  ;  —  after  that,  he  filled  all  Jerusalem 
and  Judea  with  wonder  and  alarm  by  his  bold  mag- 
netic speech.  Paul  had  sat  as  a  student  at  the  feet 
of  Gamaliel  till  the  Gospel  stung  him  into  frenzy  ; 
and  then,  having  accepted  its  ministry,  he  makes  all 
Asia  Minor  ring  with  his  name  and  become  rever- 
ent before  the  messages  which  go  out  from  his 
prison.  Not  more  surely  does  morning  dawn  to 
wake  the  earth  from  its  slumbers,  than  Christ  comes 
to  quicken  humanity  and  vitalize  stagnant  souls. 
Not  more  surely  do  the  monotonous  forests  change 
into  fruitful  gardens  along  the  highways  of  civiliza- 
tion, than  does  the  desert  of  human  experience 
blossom  out  into  beauty  when  the  life  -  giving  spirit 
of  God  finds  a  channel  along  which  it  may  flow 
through  the  torpid  heart. 

It  is  this  perpetual  presence  Of  Christ  that  consti- 
tutes the  glory  of  his  Gospel,  and  gives  it  the  chief 
promise  of  success.  That  pledge, — "Lo,  I  am  with 


324  GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

you  always,"  rightly  interpreted,  is  the  highest 
guaranty  that  his  word  shall  not  return  void,  nor  his 
servants  speak  it  in  feebleness.  It  gives  the  speaker 
new  authority  and  fervor,  and  it  makes  the  hearer 
realize  that  he  is  listening  to  no  common  message. 
Christ's  ministry  was  not  simply  the  proclamation  cf 
a  system,  nor  the  founding  of  a  new  religious  party  ; 
it  was  chiefly  meant  to  bring  a  new  vitality  to  the 
world.  He  did  more  than  to  make  our  planet  a 
visit,  show  his  own  condescension  and  assert  the 
forgotten  dignity  of  men.  He  comes  to  dwell  in 
humanity,  and  build  up  successive  generations  of 
souls  into  heavenly  majesty  and  beauty. 

The  manifestations  of  God  which  marked  the 
earlier  history  of  the  world  are  not  to  be  set  down 
as  exceptional  developments  and  expressions  of  his 
interest  in  the  human  race.  The  old  miracles  are  not 
the  only  symbols  of  the  Father's  heart.  All  the 
Qenturies  are  his  children ;  each  generation  draws 
largely  and  freshly  on  his  sympathy.  If  he  brood- 
ed over  the  cradle  of  the  race,  he  does  not  forget  its 
youth  nor  leave  its  manhood  unattended.  The  in- 
terests of  our  world  grow  constantly  more  numerous 
and  more  valuable.  As  its  forces  increase  and  be- 
come more  operative,  so  must  he  follow  them  in 
their  work  with  a  deepening  interest.  The  world's 
life  of  to  -  day  stands  related  to  its  earlier  life  as  the 
oak  is  related  to  the  acorn,  as  the  flower  to  the  bud, 
as  the  fruit  to  the  germ.  The  human  race  is  a  con- 
stantly growing  element  in  the  sum  of  being,  and 
God's  interest  is  always  measured  by  the  moral 


CHRIST'S  VITAL  RELATIONS  TO  MEN.        325 

power     of     any      existence.       That     is     evident. 

Men,  calling  themselves  philosophers,  often  ob- 
ject to  the  idea  that  God  is  operating  in  the  world  in 
any  effective  way,  on  the  ground  that  he  is  restrain- 
ed by  law.  As  though  methods  must  exist  at  the 
expense  of  souls  !  As  though  God  would  frame 
statutes  that  shut  him  away  from  the  home,  and  cut 
off  his  most  needed  ministries  from  the  hearts  of  his 
children  !  As  though  laws  were  not  instituted  with 
a  full  knowledge  of  all  the  ends  to  which  they  stand 
related !  As  though  they  were  fashioned  for  any 
other  purpose  than  to  be  channels  through  which 
his  grace  might  be  poured,  in  the  largest  streams 
and  with  the  highest  certainty,  into  the  heart !  As 
though  any  law  of  God  were  anything  else  than  a 
guaranty  to  faith  that  the  gift  of  to  -  day  should  be 
repeated  to-morrow.  As  though  it  were  anything 
else  than  a  picture  of  his  beneficence,  all  written 
over  with  the  sentence,  — "  The  same  yesterday,  and 
to  -  day,  and  forever  !  " 

The  withdrawal  of  Christ's  humanity  from  the 
earth  is  no  index  of  loss.  It  does  not  denote  the 
perishing  of  divine  sympathy, — it  rather  suggests 
its  enlargement  and  diffusion.  The  human  channel 
could  no  longer  hold  the  broad  stream,  as  the  banks 
of  the  Nile  can  not  enclose  nor  restrain  the  liquid 
fruitfulness  which  comes  pouring  down  when  the 
spring  rains  have  given  their  baptism  to  the  mount- 
ains. It  was  expedient  that  he  go  away ;  for  only 
thus  could  the  great  Comforter  and  Inspirer  find  his 
way  to  all  hearts  without  hindrance.  Allied  with  a 


326  GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

human  body,  God's  grace  must  be  largely  limited  in 
its  operations  by  conditions.  If  Christ's  human 
lips  must  distil  wisdom,  it  could  fall  only  when  his 
lips  were  opening.  If  the  touch  of  his  finger  or 
the  glance  of  his  eye  must  give  healing  vigor  or 
communicate  hope,  the  distant  sufferers  must  pine 
on  without  relief  from  weakness  or  despair.  While 
Capernaum  brings  out  her  diseased  ones,  and 
Gadara  is  cured  of  possessions,  and  Nain  and  Beth- 
any welcome  life  back  from  the  sepulchre,  Jerusa- 
lem finds  no  cure  for  her  leprosy,  Hebron  sits  sol- 
itary, and  Bethlehem  stretches  forth  her  arms  in  vain. 
While  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel  are 
sought  out  and  brought  home  with  rejoicing  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  Great  Shepherd,  wolves  are  de- 
vouring the  flocks  now  broken  loose  from  the 
folds  of  the  Gentiles.  Christ's  bodily  life  is  the  ala- 
baster box  which  holds  the  sacred  ointment ;  —  it 
must  be  broken  before  its  odor  fills  the  house  of 
humanity.  The  incense  must  find  egress  from  the 
censer  before  the  fragrance  can  diffuse  itself  at  once 
through  all  the  temple  of  life.  The  flood  of  glory 
which  came  at  Pentecost  would  have  been  only 
another  shower,  such  as  fell  at  Nazareth  and 
Sychar,  had  not  the  cloud  found  room  for  expansion 
till  it  filled  the  whole  heaven.  The  light  set  now  in 
the  firmament,  and  "  lighting  every  man  that  cometh 
into  the  world,"  would  have  been  only  a  changing 
star,  like  that  which  guided  the  Magi,  had  not  the 
obscured  splendor  culminated  and  formed  the  Sun 
of  Righteousness.  The  human  Jesus  walked  among 


CHRISTS    VITAL    RELATIONS    TO    MEN.  327 

men  to  show  how  thoroughly  God  may  come  in  con- 
tact with  the  soul  and  with  common  life ;  having 
done  this,  he  threw  off  the  finite  limitations  that  the 
Infinite  Presence  might  brood  at  once  and  forever 
over  all  the  world  of  spirit. 

Jesus,  then,  is  the  giver  of  a  new  and  divine  life 
to  men.  All  real  spiritual  vitality  comes  of  his  in- 
fluence and  quickening.  It  commences  with  an  in- 
fusion of  energy  from  him.  It  continues  only  while 
he  feeds  it  from  his  own  exhaustless  fountain.  The 
original  impulse  from  him  does  not  suffice  to  keep 
us  forever  in  the  sacred  orbit.  He  gives  as  we  re- 
ceive and  apply ;  he  feeds  only  as  we  consume.  We 
never  get  beyond  the  necessity  for  his  ministries. 
We  never  acquire  a  momentum  that  enables  us  to 
dispense  with  his  fresh  impulses.  Daily  we  must 
have  the  daily  bread.  The  manna  gathered  yester- 
day does  not  answer  to  -  day.  We  maintain  no  in- 
dependent spiritual  existence,  by  virtue  of  any  ac- 
quired vigor,  or  enlarged  knowledge,  or  completer 
self-mastery,  or  growing  skill.  However  green  the 
foliage,  or  beautiful  the  blossoms,  or  luxuriant  the 
fruit,  which  may  appear  in  our  life,  while  preserv- 
ing our  vital  connection  with  the  living  Vine,  we 
sever  ourselves  only  to  find  the  flowing  currents 
stagnate,  the  foliage  wither,  the  blossoms  perish,  the 
half- matured  fruit  fall.  Keeping  up  this  union  with 
him,  the  sphere  of  life  enlarges,  the  play  of  its 
forces  is  freer,  the  experience  is  enriched,  the  vital- 
ity becomes  intenser,  the  working  energy  multiplies, 
the  interior  friction  grows  less,  the  powers  combine 


328  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

harmoniously  and  work  with  new  singleness,  and 
the  results  of  this  intensified  and  normal  life  are 
larger  as  well  as  better.  Out  of  this  statement  of 
the  truth  contained  in  the  figure  of  the  Vine,  there 
spring  many  thoughts  which  show  the  significant 
bearings  of  the  lesson,  exhibit  it  as  a  practical  senti- 
ment, and  enforce  its  applications.  Of  these  let  us 
consider  a  few. 

i.  It  exalts  Christ  to  a  divine  rank  and  assigns 
him  a  divine  ministry. 

He  can  be  no  finite  teacher,  no  delegated  person- 
age, no  dependent  being,  who  is  authorized  to 
speak  such  words  as  these  :  "  Abide  in  me,  for  so 
only  can  you  have  life.  I  alone  can  vitalize  your 
spirits,  can  keep  your- souls  from  stagnation,  can  fill 
you  with  energy,  and  crown  your  work  with  suc- 
cess. I  am  the  fountain  ;  drink  and  live.  I  yield 
nutriment ;  feed  on  it  and  grow.  I  supply  energy  ; 
receive  it  and  be  strong.  Cut  off  from  me  you  per- 
ish, let  whoever  will,  bring  guardianship  or  apply 
culture.  Without  me  ye  can  do  nothing.  With  my 
inspiration  no  human  task  shall  be  undertaken  in 
vain.  Prompted  by  my  impulses,  ye  shall  ask 
what  ye  will,  and  the  petition  shall  have  its  answer, 
—  struggle  for  any  goal  and  it  shall  be  within 
reach."  Make  now  all  proper  allowance  for  eastern 
metaphor,  and  there  still  remains  in  these  words  a 
fullness  of  meaning,  and  they  denote  the  calm,  quiet 
consciousness  of  resource,  authority  and  power, 
that  makes  them  the  outburst  of  an  insufferable  ego- 
tism, or  bold  with  terrific  blasphemy  if  they  are  not 


CHRIST'S  VITAL  RELATIONS  TO  MEN.       329 

from  Him  who  is  the  beginning  and  end,  all  in  all. 

2.  These  words  set  aside  all  theories  of  human 
redemption  based  on  self-  culture,  or  the  education 
of  society. 

The  philosophy  of  development  is  utterly  ignored 
in  this  statement  of  the  source  and  the  quality  of  all 
real  spiritual  life  and  Christian  character,  and 
which  explains  every  thing  by  reference  to  a  new 
and  higher  agency.  These  two  theories  of  the 
Christian  life  divide  the  world.  One  set  of  teachers 
tell  us  that  true  religion  is  proper  self-  regulation  ; 
that  repentance  is  breaking  off  bad  habits ;  that 
forgiveness  of  sin  is  the  overcoming  of  passion  and 
a  growth  out  of  the  reach  of  evil  forces  ;  that  faith 
is  adherence  to  principle ;  that  prayer  is  a  stimulus 
applied  to  the  sensibility  in  the  form  of  devout 
words ;  that  the  peace  of  God  is  the  harmony  of  a 
well  -  balanced  soul ;  that  true  worship  is  a  wise  in- 
dustry ;  that  God's  gift  of  strength  is  a  will  grown 
resolute  by  exercise ;  that  succor  in  temptation  is 
the  repulsion  felt  by  an  improved  moral  taste ;  that 
the  "  well-  done  "  of  Heaven  is  the  reasonable  self- 
satisfaction  which  our  heroic  work  has  brought  us ; 
and  that  salvation  comes  only  from  an  out  -  grow- 
ing of  our  inherited  weaknesses. 

There  is  indeed  a  partial  truth  wrapped  up  in 
these  methods  of  representation.  They  imply  a 
fact ;  —  they  show  that  there  is  a  human  side  to 
Christian  experience ;  that  a  Christian  life  is  more 
intense  in  its  activity  than  any  other.  But  these 
words  of  Christ  give  another  account  of  the  change 


33°  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

wrought  by  religion  in  the  human  soul ;  —  they 
make  these  high  activities  chiefly  the  expression 
and  result  of  his  ministry  within  us.  They  show 
that  the  heart  is  quick  because  life  has  been  poured 
into  it  from  above.  It  is  penitent  because  its  sin  is 
shown  it  as  a  defiance  of  God's  law  and  a  blow  at 
Christ's  love.  It  has  peace  because  the  broken 
law's  sentence  of  condemnation  is  withdrawn.  It 
hopes  through  its  clinging  to  the  divine  promise. 
It  is  strong  through  the  incoming  of  heavenly  pow- 
er. It  loves  because  the  Redeemer  stands  before  it 
transfigured  into  the  beauty  of  excellence.  Its  grat- 
itude is  kept  active  by  the  perpetual  coming  of 
great  and  undeserved  gifts.  It  looks  for  victories 
only  under  the  leadership  of  Him  who,  in  conquering 
all  foes  for  himself,  comes  to  conquer  them  again  in 
and  through  each  of  his  children.  Not  by  mechan- 
ical processes,  but  by  vital,  does  Christ  propose  to 
make  human  nature  a  divine  temple,  and  the  earth- 
ly life  a  type  of  heavenly  experience.  Not  by  cur- 
tailing this  power  and  enlarging  that ;  not  by  prun- 
ing here  and  stimulating  there  ;  not  by  perpetually 
crowding  the  nature  into  some  ideal  mould,  to  bring 
and  keep  it  into  comeliness  and  harmony  of  parts, 
would  Christ  teach  us  to  fashion  the  soul  for  him. 
Rather,  he  instructs  us  that  we  must  take  from  him 
the  living  force  that  works  in  the  center  of  our  nat- 
ure, elaborating  the  elements  of  spiritual  nutrition, 
and  distributing  them  with  superhuman  skill  to  the 
very  extremities  of  our  being.  He  must  pour  light 
into  the  understanding,  make  conscience  quick  to 


CHRIST'S  VITAL  RELATIONS  TO  MEN.       331 

see  and  prompt  to  impel,  arouse  sluggish  affections, 
ennoble  aim,  fortify  purpose,  sustain  faith,  preserve 
patience,  keep  effort  consecrated  and  vigorous. 
Into  the  arctic  winter  of  the  soul  he  must  breathe 
summer  airs ;  and  on  the  barren  soil  of  the  heart  he 
must  pour  enriching  influences,  as  the  annual  floods 
of  the  Nile  change  desert  Egypt  into  gardens. 
Thus,  and  thus  only,  according  to  Christ,  does  the 
soul  truly  live  ;  thus  only  does  experience  rise  up  to 
its  great  heights  of  privilege ;  thus  only  does  effort 
bear  the  weighty  sheaves  on  its  shoulders  at  whose 
approach  heavenly  voices  join  in  shouting  "  harvest 
home.'* 

3.  This  view  of  Christian  life  is  reasonable  and 
necessary;  —  that  is,  it  is  easily  sustained  by  phi- 
losophy, illustrated  by  numerous  analogies,  called 
for  by  all  profound  experience,  and  exalted  in  its 
results. 

Whenever  life  becomes  really  ennobled,  it  is  by 
the  infusion  of  new  forces  from  without.  A  soul 
that  gravitates  downward  through  its  own  weight, 
must  rise,  if  it  rise  at  all,  because  an  upward  im- 
pulse has  overcome  the  nether  attraction,  or  a  supe- 
rior magnetism  is  lifting  it  heavenward.  All  effort 
at  self- redemption,  which  excludes  help  from  with- 
out, is  like  a  struggle  to  raise  one's  self  by  lifting  at 
his  own  feet.  And  the  merely  human  helpers  that 
stand  on  the  same  plane  can  only  push  the  ambi- 
tious soul  as  high  as  their  own  shoulders.  The 
truly  ascending  spirit  must  rise  by  the  aid  of  strong- 
er and  diviner  hands.  The  soul's  life  is  in  union 


332  GEORGE  TIFFANY  DAY. 

with  God ;  whatever  aims  at  or  reaches  less  than 
this,  leaves  the  great  work  undone  and  the  great 
want  unmet. 

And  in  those  deeper  experiences  of  the  heart, 
when  its  fountains  are  broken  up,  and  the  floods  go 
careering  over  it, —  sweeping  away  the  monuments 
of  its  power  and  laying  all  its  earthly  hopes  waste, 
nothing  can  content  or  relieve  it  but  a  real  God  at 
hand.  When  the  plans  of  life  succeed,  when  each 
new  morning  dawns  upon  a  fresh  joy,  when  heaven 
smiles  in  the  look  of  the  sun  and  drops  benedictions 
from  all  the  stars,  when  calamities  are  kept  at  bay, 
and  lips  distill  compliments,  and  honors  accumulate 
upon  us', —  then  we  talk,  perhaps,  of  the  benefi- 
cence of  natural  order,  and  glorify  law,  and  praise 
human  skill,  and  boast  over,  our  foresight,  and  feel 
we  have  no  great  need  that  God  should  come  near 
us.  But  when  great  perils  impend,  and  our  wisest 
plans  are  thwarted,  and  our  possessions  drop  away 
from  us,  and  loving  lips  are  dumb,  and  trusted 
hearts  grow  treacherous,  and  the  order  of  nature  is 
like  a  massive  chariot  with  scythes  hung  at  its  axles 
cutting  down  our  treasures  as  it  rushes  by  ;  —  when 
all  surrounding  forces  are  laying  life  desolate  with- 
out apparent  compunction  or  emotion, —  blind  to  our 
tears,  and  deaf  to  all  our  wailing, —  then  the  blast- 
ed and  quivering  soul  cries  out  for  a  heart  and 
yearns  for  a  bosom  on  which  the  aching  temples 
may  find  a  soothing. 

And  especially  when  the  heart  reproaches  itself 
for  its  sin  ;  when  the  Law  thunders  condemnation  ; 


CHRIST  S    VITAL    RELATIONS    TO    MEN-          333 

when  the  soul  wakes  to  find  itself  guilty,  desolate 
and  astray ;  when  it  feels  that  retribution  is  on  its 
track  and  the  earth  has  no  refuge  for  it;  when  the 
passions  wake  and  ply  all  their  enginery  as  if  to 
take  conscience  by  storm  ;  when  temptation  comes 
every  hour  with  a  fresher  and  larger  bribe  ;  when 
the  public  virtue  falls  away,  and  the  integrity  of 
trusted  men  fails  them ;  when  the  retrospect  of  a 
wretched  life  sickens  the  dying  transgressor,  and  a 
miserable  legal  obedience  seems  only  a  tattered 
garment  falling  away  from  a  selfish  soul;  —  then 
what  but  the  prompt  mercy  of  a  personal  and  Infinite 
Redeemer  can  avail  ?  Will  you  talk  to  such  a  spir- 
it of  magnetizing  itself,  when  its  very  limbs  are  tor- 
pid? Will  you  point  its  fears  to  Law,  when  Law  is 
only  Mt.  Sinai  quaking  with  thunders?  Will  you 
bid  it  submit  like  a  stoical  philosopher,  when  its 
deepest  and  strongest  instincts  are  leaping  to  find 
deliverance?  Will  you  offer  it  a  subtle  and  icy 
ph.losophy,  when  it  pleads  for  a  simple  word  of  love 
and  the  uplifting  strength  of  a  Father's  arm?  None 
of  these  things  can  satisfy ;  they  only  mock  at  its 
necessities,  and  reproach  while  they  profess  to  help. 
One  word  only  can  bring  peace  and  impart  satisfac- 
tion ;  —  and  that  is  the  sentence  of  the  last  Jewish 
prophet, —  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world  !  "  And  then,  while  the 
hearer  looks  and  listens,  He  himself  draws  near  to 
say, —  "Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and 
are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  "  Lo,  I 
am  with  you  always." 


334  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

The  character,  too,  which  grows  up  under  the 
tuition  of  faith,  and  matures  in  the  sunshine  of  this 
conscious  presence  of  Christ,  is  better  as  well  as 
surer.  The  spirit  of  an  amiable  woman  is  beauti- 
ful; the  integrity  of  a  strong  man  is  impressive  ;  a 
mother,  walking  affectionately  and  queenly  among 
her  children,  is  a  scene  for  an  artist's  skill;  and  the 
heroism  of  a  great  patriot  is  wrought  into  an  epic 
whose  grand  music  goes  sounding  down  the  ages. 
But  if  the  amiable  woman  lack  heavenly  love,  her 
grace  may  be  only  inherited  taste  or  fashionable  et- 
iquette ;  and  if  the  strong  man's  integrity  wants  the 
basis  of  religious  conviction,  it  may  go  crashing 
down  beneath  the  next  fierce  pressure.  The  moth- 
er's royal  robes  drop  from  her  when  we  perceive 
that  her  home  is  praye,rless,  and  her  children  are 
taught  no  trust  in  a  Heavenly  Parent;  and  the 
patriot  keeps  but  half  our  reverence  when  we  know 
that  his  death  was  no  token  of  fidelity  to  God.  A 
punctilious  legality  is  far  below  an  obedient  love  ;  a 
constrained  propriety  is  not  half  so  welcome  as  a  tear 
that  proclaims  the  thorough  repentance  of  a  prodi- 
.  gal.  Tithes  of  mint  and  anise  and  cummin  are  less 
than  one  deep  gush  of  affection,  making  the  heart 
run  over  toward  a  personal  Christ.  The  Magda- 
len's box  of  ointment  was  worth  a  thousand  times 
more  than  the  Pharisee's  anxiety  for  the  moral  rep- 
utation of  his  house;  and  Thomas's  "  My  Lord  and 
my  God,"  mounts  in  its  character  far  above  all  his 
prudent  questioning  lest  he  should  be  persuaded  too 
soon  into  the  belief  that  his  Master  had  fulfilled  the 


CHRIST'S  VITAL  RELATIONS  TO  MEN.       335 

prophecy  of  his  resurrection.  From  the  humility  of 
a  broken  heart,  there  springs  up  the  highest  nobility 
of  goodness,  as  the  Gloria  in  Excclsis  is  never  so 
magnificent  as  when  it  bursts  up  from  the  orchestra 
just  now  wailing  out  the  Miserere.  The  virtue  that 
comes  of  self-  culture  and  the  regulation  of  the 
passions  may  have  symmetry  and  beauty ;  —  that 
which  flows  out  from  the  inspiration  given  to  the 
soul  by  Christ  has  warmth  and  life  and  motion. 
One  is  like  the  statue  of  the  Venus  de  Medici  >  stand- 
ing century  after  century  in  the  Florentine  gallery 
to  challenge  admiration ;  the  other  is  seen  in  such 
daily  ministries  as  those  of  Florence  Nightingale 
among  the  wounded  soldiers  of  the  Crimea,  ambi- 
tious only  to  soothe  suffering,  and  rinding  her  highest 
reward  in  the  smile  of  peace  which  answered  her 
effort  when  she  pointed  the  dimmed  eyes  of  the  dy- 
ing to  Calvary, 

4.  The  practical  acceptance  of  this  sentiment  is 
the  highest  guaranty  of  a  sound  theology. 

Theology  begins  its  method  wrongly  when  this 
idea  of  God's  direct  and  constant  contact  with  the 
human  soul  is  not  laid  at  its  basis.  Religion  has  no 
vitality,  and  so  no  valuable  truth,  when  this  is  de- 
nied or  ignored.  It  is  only  a  set  of  dry  dogmas,  — 
a  skeleton  system,  without  nerves  or  blood,  and  in 
which  all  the  muscles  are  either  shrunken  or  ossified. 
He  who,  on  the  other  hand,  commences  his  system 
of  doctrine  by  putting  this  great  thought  into  the  cen- 
tre as  the  nucleus  around  which  all  other  truths  are  to 
be  arranged  in  their  order,  is  not  likely  to  go  widely 


336  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

astray.  Such  a  man  has  one  of  the  highest  qualifi- 
cations for  the  study  of  religious  truth,  — that  is,  a 
heart  quick  with  affection,  reverential  with  wonder- 
ing gratitude,  and  teachable  in  its  simple  trust. 
Such  a  spirit  as  this  wins  its  wray  where  philosophy 
is  bewildered,  and  sees  the  morning  kindle  while  ir- 
reverent science  is  searching  vainly  for  a  star. 
Where  speculation  stumbles,  love  interprets ;  and 
many  a  text  of  Scripture  or  a  hard  sentence  of 
Providence  that  defies  investigation,  gives  up  its 
meaning  to  prayer.  For  God  has  "  hid  these  things 
from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  revealed  them  unto 
babes." 

Besides,  he  who  accepts  this  perpetual  presence 
and  grace  of  Christ,  as  the  end  and  significance  of 
all  religious  doctrine,  will  have  a  special  reason  for 
loving,  and  longing  for,  the  truth.  To  him  each 
truth  will  seem  a  cup  with  which  this  living  water  is 
to  be  dipped  from  the  fountain  and  carried  to  the 
spiritual  lips ;  and  so  the  more  clearly  the  truth  is 
seen,  the  more  readily  can  it  be  used ;  —  the  more 
full  our  apprehension  of  it  may  be,  the  larger  is  the 
quantity  which  it  holds.  As  souls  seek  for  the 
water  of  life,  so  will  they  prize  the  channels  offered 
by  truth  along  which  the  tide  may  pour.  True 
doctrine  is  an  unfailing  aqueduct ;  false  sentiment 
is  a  broken  cistern ;  it  is  the  thirsty  spirit,  coming 
often  to  drink,that  will  soonest  distrust  the  shattered 
vessel. 

And  by  this  test  the  relative  importance  of  errors 
is  to  be  determined.  The  worst  heresies,  —  those 


CHRIST'S  VITAL  RELATIONS  TO  MEN.        337 

that  most  need  hunting  down,  —  are  those  that  cut 
off  the  soul  from  the  divine  fountain,  that  palsy  its 
spiritual  faculties,  that  make  its  higher  life  stagnate, 
that  cheat  its  pulses  of  vigor,  that  take  God  away 
from  its  consciousness,  that  beget  a  false  indepen- 
dence, that  drive  the  spirit  out  of  its  appointed  orbit, 
and  leave  it  to  moral  orphanage.  Whether  these 
errors  be  of  those  put  under  ban,  or  of  those  that 
keep  orthodox  company,  they  work  the  chief  disas- 
ters in  the  theology  of  the  world.  And  that  is  the 
divinest  sentiment  which  most  abounds  in  nutritious 
juices ;  that  feeds  the  soul  without  killing  its  hunger, 
that  allows  God  all  majesty  and  yet  brings  him 
closest  the  heart,  that  enables  us  to  whisper  our 
prayers  into  his  very  ear,  to  behold  him  putting  his 
seal  on  every  task,  to  realize  that  he  touches  the 
soul  at  every  point,  and  so  makes  all  life  the  out- 
growth of  his  influence,  and  all  work  to  be  done  as 
under  our  great  Taskmaster's  eye.  That  theology 
is  the  soundest  which,  year  after  year,  in  many 
times  and  lands,  on  many  classes  of  souls,  brings 
such  attestations,  stimulates  such  forces,  and 
matures  such  fruit.  The  heterodoxy  that  vitalizes 
is  truer  than  the  orthodoxy  that  benumbs. 

5.  The  hearty  reception  of  this  sentiment  will  give 
to  the  soul  courage  and  to  effort  effective  power. 

He  who  knows  most  of  the  world  has  usually  least 
faith  in  its  redemption ;  they  who  carry  with  them 
most  of  this  sacred  vitality  are  most  effectively 
pressing  it  on  toward  its  true  goal.  Peter  and  John 
could  promise  nothing  of  themselves  to  the  crippled 


GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

beggar  at  the  gate  beautiful ;  but,  holding  at  their 
control  the  forces  of  Christ,  they  could  make  him 
leap  with  a  word.  And  he  who  goes  abroad  in  the 
strength  of  the  Lord  God,  may  calmly  look  all 
dangers  in  the  face  and  yet  be  full  of  resolution ; 
may  measure  the  barriers  that  oppose  him  and  yet 
look  for  them  to  melt  away  like  walls  of  mist  when 
smitten  by  the  wings  of  the  morning.  It  matters 
not  much  how  weak  human  things  may  be,  if  God 
has  really  selected  them  to  confound  the  mighty, 
nor  how  simple  the  instrument  if  it  is  Heaven's 
chosen  weapon  for  the  overthrow  of  men's  wisdom. 
God  in  us,  is  the  adequate  explanation  of  every 
achievement,  and  a  sufficient  justification  of  the 
highest  prophecies  of  the  sacred  word. 

There  is  hope  of  bad  men,  too,  if  God's  quicken- 
ing may  be  counted  on  when  our  most  rousing 
words  bring  out  no  symptoms  of  life.  The  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins  may  live,  if  He  will  pour  vital 
currents  into  their  stagnant  souls.  The  "  old  man  " 
.may  give  way  to  the  forces  of  the  "  new  creature,  " 
if  his  warm  breath  may  quicken  into  summer  growth 
the  seeds  of  grace  till  now  buried  and  unwakened. 
It  is  no  longer  a  marvel  that  the  chief  of  sinners 
may  be  saved,  and  that  possessed  men  may  sit  cloth- 
ed in  their  right  minds. 

Here,  too,  is  the  proof  of  the  human  soul's  nobil- 
ity. Not  all  the  history  of  Bethlehem  had  enriched 
that  town  so  much  as  the  brief  sleep  of  the  infant 
Messiah  in  the  manger  of  one  of  its  inns.  The 
glory  of  Solomon's  temple  was  not  in  its  magnitude 


CHRIST  S    VITAL    RELATIONS    TO    MEN.  339 

nor  its  splendor.  The  Shekinah  above  the  mercy 
seat  was  its  crowning  characteristic.  The  glory  of 
man  is  not  his  splendid  intellect,  nor  his  skill  which 
puts  even  his  weakness  into  the  place  of  mastery, 
nor  his  great  achievements  of  which  history  is  the 
monument.  The  dwelling  of  divine  forces  in  him 
is  the  strongest  assertion  of  his  greatness.  The 
weakest  and  most  defiled  soul  is  a  majestic  thing 
when  the  Creator's  spirit  chooses  it  for  a  temple. 
Carlyle  voiced  his  sentimental  pantheism  when  he 
said,  "  He  touches  divinity  who  lays  his  finger  on  a 
human  body  ;  "  it  is  plain,  Christian  truth  which  tells 
us  that  he  who  unlocks  a  human  soul  to  the  Gospel 
builds  Jehovah  another  sanctuary  on  earth.  No  man 
is  mean  who  carries  such  a  nature  ;  no  effort  wants 
dignity  which  would  transfuse  such  a  nature  with 
the  life  of  God. 

So,  too,  this  sentiment  will  help  us  rightly  to  in- 
terpret success.  Our  learning  may  astonish,  our 
taste  purchase  compliments,  our  genius  startle,  our 
gifts  win  homage,  our  logic  silence  opposition,  our 
eloquence  magnetize,  our  pathos  start  tears,  our 
imagination  throw  splendid  hues  over  the  homeliest 
things  and  thoughts,  our  fame  attract  crowds  ;  and 
yet,  if  men  are  not  made  to  feel  the  beating  of  God's 
heart  in  theirs,  and  their  souls  are  not  quickened 
with  the  consciousness  of  his  inspiration,  we  have 
only  displayed  a  skillful  jugglery  where  we  were 
set  to  distribute  life.  Pretending  to  inspire  souls, 
and  to  feed  them  with  the  bread  of  life,  we  have 
only  pampered  taste  and  amused  the  fancy, —  deep- 


340  GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

ening  all  the  while  the  guilty  slumbers  we  should 
have  broken. 

6.  There  is  special  need  of  making  this  sentiment 
real  and  primary  now. 

Our  general  life  is  eminently  outward  and  fear- 
fully intense.  The  gains  we  chiefly  prize  are  those 
that  can  be  turned  into  cash  without  much  discount 
or  delay.  We  spend  our  chief  force  upon  matter. 
Strength  of  muscle,  cunning  of  brain,  and  sub- 
dual of  natural  powers  to  the  service  of  the  body, — 
we  hold  these  up  as  symbols  of  our  civilization  and 
indices  to  our  boasted  progress.  Physical  science 
is  jostled  by  eager  devotees  everywhere,  who 
tease  her  for  commissions  or  boast  of  miracles  in 
her  name.  The  cry  of  the  restless  soul  is  answered 
by  an  offer  of  new  luxuries  to  the  palate,  or  the  dis- 
play of  art  that  shall  feed  the  taste  and  so  turn  off 
the  eye  from  the  inward  barrenness.  Men  change 
the  desert  into  fruitful  fields,  and  so  forget  to  ask 
Heaven  for  daily  bread.  They  play  with  the  light- 
nings, and  so  lose  their  sense  of  dependence  on  the 
divine  protection.  They  balance  one  selfish  inter- 
est against  another  and  call  it  peace.  They  play  off 
counter  passions  upon  each  other  in  the  game  of  life 
so  skillfully  that  they  forget  that  God  only  can  pre- 
serve the  whole  mechanism  of  society  from  confusion. 
Charged  with  nervous  power,  men  swing  backward 
and  forward  without  cessation,  like  electrical  balls, 
—  attracting  and  repelling,  striking  and  rebound- 
ing,—  and  this  they  call  life  ;  while  the  music  which 
comes  of  the  collision  is  described  as  the  "  March 


CHRIST'S  VITAL  RELATIONS  TO  MEN.       341 

of  Progress."  We  work  deep,  but  think  on  the  sur- 
face ;  we  stimulate  invention,  but  mesmerize  the 
heart;  we  plan  much,  but  pray  little;  pet  the  body, 
but  plague  the  soul ;  multiply  resources  for  this 
world,  but  lay  up  little  treasure  in  the  other;  put 
new  honors  constantly  upon  men,  but  lay  down 
small  homage  at  the  feet  of  God. 

That  is  one  vicious  element,  and  defective  feature 
of  life.  Another  is  our  exaltation  of  human  inter- 
ests above  God's  authority.  The  sneers  at  the 
Higher  Law,  in  which  so  many  public  men  have 
heretofore  allowed  themselves  to  indulge,  show  us 
pride  gone  mad,  and  self-  worship  which  has  be- 
come at  length  practical  atheism.  It  is  perverting 
the  public  conscience,  turning  faith  into  mere  senti- 
ment, and  robbing  religion  of  all  vigor  ;  and  is  pav- 
ing the  way  to  the  very  worst  civil  anarchy,  and 
converting  legislation  into  a  game  of  skill. 

The  cure  for  all  this  is  obvious.  The  conscious- 
ness of  God  in  the  heart  of  society,  the  perpetual 
conviction  that  his  Spirit  is  interpenetrating  our  life, 
and  will  let  no  injustice  nor  crime  pass  without  no- 
tice or  challenge  or  discipline, —  this  alone  can  call 
men  back  to  reflection,  teach  them  dependence  and 
submission,  and  render  life  loyal  and  noble.  We 
want  intelligence,  without  doubt,  but  still  more  we 
want  that  vitality  of  conscience  which  God  imparts 
by  his  contact  with  souls.  Our  discoveries,  our  en- 
terprise, our  achievements,  our  increasing  power 
over  matter,  and  our  developing  national  forces, 
may  be  welcomed  with  gratitude ;  but  even  these 


GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

fail  of  their  highest  service  till  we  have  learned  to 
use  them  all  under  the  direction  of  Him  whom  we 
recognize  as  Lawgiver  and  Lord. 

Nor  does  this  vital  union  with  Christ  imply  or 
promote  a  dreamy  sentimentalism,  which  thrives  in 
the  cloister  but  wilts  in  the  sun.  It  does  not  show 
itself  chiefly  in  rhapsodies,  and  perish  the  moment 
hard  work  is  to  be  done.  It  is  not  a  mere  stimulant 
of  imagination,  while  it  palsies  muscle  and  takes  the 
vigor  from  volition.  Rather  it  is  the  opposite  of 
this.  Its  legitimate  and  richest  products  are  stal- 
wart men, —  keen  of  eye,  prompt  in  duty,  unflinch- 
ing in  courage,  skillful  in  work.  This  spiritual 
force  of  God  is  specially  wanted  that  it  may  fill  the 
whole  domain  of  life.  This  vital  power,  truly  with- 
in us,  comes  out  everywhere ;  —  there  is  no  task, 
however  humble,  but  it  ennobles  and  hallows.  On 
the  high  places  of  eminence  and  in  the  commonest 
walks ;  in  homes  as  well  as  in  sanctuaries ;  in 
places  of  merchandise  as  well  as  in  closets, —  this 
sacred  influence  works  and  appears.  "  To  be  spir- 
itually minded  is  life.  Every  rising  up  of  pure  as- 
piration ;  every  clinging  to  principle  in  the  hour 
when  the  tempter  is  nearest ;  every  choice  of  ab- 
stract right  above  politic  selfishness ;  every  putting 
down  of  sensual  passion  with  reverential  prayer ; 
every  preference  of  a  truth  which  inherits  a  cross, 
over  the  lie  that  flatters  with  a  promise  of  prosper- 
ity,—  is  a  palpable  motion  of  God's  life  within  the 
soul."  Indeed,  the  highest  developments  of  this 
divine  force  we  have  yet  seen  or  shall  see,  appear 


CHRIST'S  VITAL  RELATIONS  TO  MEN.       343 

in  common  life,  when  the  daily  work  of  men  and 
women  all  about  us  is  undertaken  with  prayer,  con- 
tinued with  true  and  patient  heroism,  hallowed  as 
though  it  were  a  holy  sacrifice,  and  ended  with  a 
hymn  of  thanksgiving.  And  some  of  the  grandest 
achievements  which  the  Gospel  is  set  to  reach,  will 
be  seen  only  when  our  secular  pursuits,  shall  be  an- 
imated by  a  Christian  temper,  and  our  week  -  day 
work  shall  be  holy  like  our  Sabbath  worship.  No 
higher  tokens  of  God's  presence  among  men  can  be 
witnessed  than  will  appear  when  labor  and  capital 
shall  confide  in  each  other,  because  both  shall  culti- 
vate honor  and  cherish  sympathy ;  when  trade  shall 
be  both  just  and  generous  ;  when  commerce  shall  be 
beneficent  by  intention ;  when  politics  shall  be  ani- 
mated by  a  conscience  ;  when  law  shall  echo  the  di- 
vine statutes ;  when  statesmanship  shall  imply 
patriotism  and  philanthropy ;  when  schools  shall 
produce  manhood,  and  honors  be  ordered  by  a  wise 
and  efficient  love.  Over  such  a  human  state  as  that, 
the  great  voice  would  be  heard  again  in  heaven, — 
not  as  before  ringing  out  a  prophecy,  but  at  length 
announcing  a  fact, — "  Behold  the  tabernacle  of 
God  is  with  men." 

Here,  then,  is  the  force  by  which  your  chosen 
sphere  is  to  be  distinguished  and  your  waiting  work 
carried  to  completion.  "  If  ye  abide  in  me  and  my 
words  abide  in  you,  ye  shall  ask  what  ye  will,  and 
it  shall  be  done  unto  you."  The  warning  is  signifi- 
cant; the  assurance  inspiring.  As  an  instrument, 
your  attainments  and  gifts  may  work  mightily  in 


344  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

concentrating  and  then  diffusing  the  heavenly  light 
and  life  ;  make  them  your  dependence,  and  they  will 
utterly  fail.  Though  your  speech  be  golden  as 
Chrysostom's,  it  will  be  wasted  treasure ;  though 
you  reproduce  the  learning  of  Erasmus,  your  eye 
will  be  blessed  by  no  new  -  springing  verdure ; 
carry  to  your  pulpits  the  dialectics,  the  philosophical 
skill  of  Edwards,  no  agonized  souls  will  be  moved 
to  put  their  sliding  feet  upon  the  Rock  of  Ages. 

Preach  faithfully  and  prayerfully  this  word  whose 
sentences  hold  this  life  of  God,  as  the  clouds  carry 
the  vitality  of  the  garden  and  the  forest.  Teach 
men  its  history  ;  utter  its  statutes  for  their  warning ; 
paint  their  future  with  the  colors  of  its  prophecy ; 
sing  its  psalms  into  their  souls ;  and  rest  not  until 
they  have  found  Him  who  is  its  central  glory  and 
whose  life  in  us  is  our  only  redemption. 


in. 
CHRISTIANITY:  OUR  HELP  AND  HOPE.* 

"  Neither  is  there  salvation  in  any  other :  for  there  is  none  oth- 
er name  under  heaven  given  among  men,  whereby  we  must  be 
saved.  "  Acts  4:  12. 

"  For  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us.    2  Cor.  5  :   13. 

The  great  problem  presenting  itself  to  every  sin- 
cere and  thoughtful  man,  may  be  thus  stated :  — 
Given  :  A  race  of  beings  selfish  and  sinful  by  ten- 

*Preached  at  the  session  of  the  N.  H.  Yearly  Meeting,  on  the  occasion  of 
•the  dedication  of  a  house  of  worship  at  New  Hampton,  June,  Ic54. 


CHRISTIANITY  :    OUR    HELP    AND    HOPE.         345 

dency  and  habit,  acting  for  thousands  of  years. 
Required :  The  available  moral  force  requisite  to 
redeem  and  purify  it. 

Over  this  problem,  ingenuity,  benevolence  and 
conscious  necessity  have  toiled  long  and  earnestly, 
without  reaping  any  satisfactory  or  very  valuable 
results.  They  have  constantly  varied  the  process, 
but  missed  the  solution. 

If  help  is  to  come  to  the  race,  from  what  source 
shall  it  emanate?  Will  it  be  a  force  springing  up 
among  the  sufferers,  or  a  minister  of  power  coming 
from  abroad?  Are  the  lost  to  work  out  salvation 
for  themselves,  or  to  expect  a  deliverance  from 
afar?  The  text  furnishes  a  reply.  The  first  pas- 
sage declares  the  futility  of  all  merely  human  expe- 
dients ;  the  second  shows  the  means  and  method  of 
the  divine  work.  Peter  shuts  us  in  a  prison,  whose 
bars  our  weak  arms  can  not  break  nor  tear  down ; 
Paul  shows  a  heavenly  messenger,  at  whose  touch 
the  ponderous  gates  swing  back,  and  we  leap  to  the 
vigorous  life  of  freedom. 

Let  us,  following  the  method  of  the  text,  look 
at  some  of  the  chief  natural  forces  at  work  in  soci- 
ety, which  are  often  confided  in  as  sources  of 
hope  and  help ;  measure  their  moral  power,  and 
study  their  bearing  on  the  redemption  of  the  world. 
There  is, 

I.     SELF-INTEREST. 

In  its  behalf  it  is  said, 

First,  That  an  effort  to  purify  others,  guards 
ourselves  most  securely  against  their  vices.  We 


346  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

render  all  our  interests  the  more  secure  in  propor- 
tion as  we  teach  justice  and  integrity  to  others.  A 
child,  reckless  and  maddened,  may  imperil  a  city ; 
discipline  hearts  till  their  passions  are  quieted,  and 
the  feeblest  citizen  walks  at  midnight  without  harm 
or  fear  through  a  multitude  of  brawny  men.  Self- 
interest,  therefore,  will  prompt  the  giving  of  time 
and  effort  and  money  to  the  work  of  purifying  those 
from  whose  vices  it  has  everything  to  fear ;  for  their 
integrity  is  its  only  security.  It  is  said, 

Secondly,  That  this  effort  for  their  welfare  will 
attach  them  to  us  by  ties  of  gratitude  and  sympathy, 
make  them  our  fast  practical  friends,  who  will 
directly  lend  us  their  aid,  and  become  our  bene- 
factors when,  perchance,  they  hold  the  resources 
and  we  are  the  dependents.  It  is  added, 

Thirdly,  That,  as  our  social  state  has  so  much  to 
do  with  our  gratification  and  welfare,  to  improve 
that  social  state  by  promoting  the  virtue  of  those 
about  us,  is  to  make  the  most  effectual,  abundant 
and  secure  provision  for  ourselves.  Few  men  will 
consent  to  make  a  home  in  the  midst  of  a  vicious 
neighborhood,  and  have  only  the  companionship  of 
those  who  live  by  preying  on  the  rights  of  others ; 
while  purely  worldly  men,  for  the  sake  of  a  prom- 
ised social  harmony  and  fellowship,  have  often 
cheerfully  put  the  hard  earnings  of  years  into  the 
treasury  of  a  Fourierite  community. 

In  all  these  forms,  it  is  said,  self-  interest  is 
prompted  to  toil  for  the  moral  purification  of  the 
v-cious ;  that  the  reasons  for  such  toil  are  strong, 


CHRISTIANITY  :    OUR    HELP   AND    HOPE.          347 

conclusive,  and  constantly  pressing ;  that  these  con- 
siderations must  in  time  become  influential  and  con- 
trolling ;  that  thus  the  better  and  more  favored  in 
society  will  become  benefactors  to  the  weak,  lifting 
up  the  depressed  and  elevating  themselves  in  the 
same  effort ;  and  that  in  this  way  the  world  will  as- 
cend to  redemption. 

This  is  specious  and  plausible,  but  is  it  trust- 
worthy ?  To  the  whole  argument,  I  reply, 

i.  Admitting  the  justness  of  the  reasoning,  self- 
interest  is  not  wise  enough  to  originate  that  view, 
or  feel  its  full  force  when  presented. 

It  is  the  nature  of  self-interest  to  be  short  sight- 
ed. It  is  not  wont  to  seek  gratification  in  the  fields 
of  philanthropy.  The  toils  of  benevolence  are  dis- 
tasteful to  it.  Its  plans  are  not  thus  broad,  and  its 
chosen  means  are  not  wont  to  be  thus  highly  ration- 
al. Self-interest,  because  it  is  self-interest,  is 
strongly  averse  to  moral  considerations,  —  to  turn 
philanthropist  would  be  to  abandon  its  own  charac- 
ter. The  steady  aim  at  self-  aggrandizement,  and 
the  continual  effort  to  purify  others,  are  incompat- 
ible. The  very  argument  stated  above,  in  behalf  of 
self-interest,  was  suggested, — was  first  constructed 
and  taught,  —  by  genuine  benevolence.  It  is  real 
philanthropy  alone  that  learns  how  beneficent  toil 
brings  back  its  own  reward.  Go  and  present 
that  argument  to  a  thoroughly  selfish  man,  —  one 
who  lives  and  labors  only  for  himself,  —  and  see 
how  much  confidence  vou  can  awaken  in  it,  and 

w 

with  how  much  readiness  he  will  spring  to  the  work 


348  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

of  moral  reform.  Bring  the  poor  outcasts  up  to  his 
door,  whose  restless  eyes  flash  with  passion,  and 
whose  faces  are  all  written  over  with  the  inscriptions 
of  crime,  and  observe  with  how  much  readiness  he 
hastens  to  feed,  and  clothe,  and  instruct  them  in 
duty.  Show  him  the  wretch  who  only  last  night 
entered  his  store  and  robbed  his  till  of  a  hundred 
dollars,  and  who  threatens  now  to  burn  his  dwell- 
ing ;  then  tell  him  that,  if  he  will  convert  the  offend- 
er, his  property  will  be  safer,  and  his  prosperity 
receive  a  new  guarantee  ;  see  if  his  selfish  arms  will 
open,  and  his  selfish  heart  throb  with  anxiety  for  his 
redemption.  No  !  He  will  only  knit  his  brows  with 
vengeance,  as  he  looks  on  his  assailant,  and  he  will 
bid  you  stop  your  mocking  speech.  The  language 
of  philanthropy  falls  on  the  ear  of  self-  interest  like 
the  dialect  of  a  barbarian. 

2.  But  suppose  the  reasoning  could  be  appre- 
hended, and  its  force  felt,  there  is  still  another  diffi- 
culty. The  motive  is  altogether  too  weak.  It  is  no 
slight  task  to  redeem  a  sensual  soul,  and  turn  the 
energies  of  life  into  a  new  and  virtuous  channel. 
The  tax  which  such  a  service  lays  upon  the 
patience,  the  forbearance,  the  charity  and  the  faith 
of  the  toiler,  is  very  large.  The  work  is  not  done 
by  a  single  wish,  or  purpose,  or  effort.  The  vi- 
cious characters  which  breathe  a  pestilence,  and 
which  prey  on  society,  are  not  made  white  and 
clean  by  one  ablution,  nor  transformed  into  models 
of  virtue  by  one  attempt  to  exorcise  the  evil  spirit, 
The  sea  of  their  boiling  passions  is  not  calmed  for- 


CHRISTIANITY  :    OUR    HELP   AND    HOPE.         349 

ever  by  one  cry  of  "  Peace,  be  still !  "  Your  words 
of  sympathy  may  be  answered  by  the  sneer  of  sus- 
picion, your  offer  of  help  be  met  by  a  threatening 
scowl  or  a  menancing  gesture,  your  highest  sacri- 
fices be  so  interpreted  as  to  be  used  for  your  calum- 
niation, your  miracles  of  love  may  awaken  the 
charge  of  being  leagued  with  Beelzebub,  and  for 
the  generous  ofFer  to  lay  down  your  life  for  them, 
you  may  be  rewarded  by  a  crown  of  mockery  and 
a  malefactor's  cross.  Surely,  that  is  not  impossible, 
—  nay,  not  wholly  improbable.  This  is  only  an 
outline  of  his  history  who  was  the  wisest  and  divin- 
est  of  all  philanthropists ;  and  He  has  said,  "  It  is 
enough  for  the  disciple  that  he  be  as  his  Master." 
Do  you  say  that  the  Master  has  conquered,  that 
eighteen  centuries  of  triumph  have  walked  over 
the  path  of  his  thirty  years'  humiliation?  I  know 
it ;  but  will  your  zeal  and  patience  and  faith  and 
self-  devotion  —  inspired  as  they  are  to  be  only  by 
self-  interest  —  will  they  hold  out  during  thirty  years 
of  humiliation  and  contempt?  Nay,  great  as  Jesus 
was,  in  sagacity,  and  power,  and  prophetic  insight, 
do  you  believe  HE  would  have  possessed  his  soul  in 
patience,  if  self-  aggrandizement  had  been  his  only 
impulse  ?  It  is  the  yearning  heart  that  weeps  over 
doomed  Jerusalem,  the  appreciation  of  the  god  - 
like  capacities  and  measureless  worth  of  the  souls 
for  which  he  toiled,  — it  is  this,  and  only  this,  that 
explains  his  endurance,  and  brings  him  off  with  the 
victory. 

Where  has  self-  interest  turned  moral  deserts  into 


35°  GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

blossoming  gardens  of  virtue?  Where  are  the  pos- 
sessed ones,  whom  it  has  rescued  from  the  "  Legion  " 
of  adversaries,  and  presented  "clothed  and  in  their 
right  minds  ?  "  It  has  not  been  wanting  in  opportuni- 
ties ;  it  has  heard  a  hundred  times  the  argument 
for  effort;  but  where  are  the  trophies? 

3.  But  supposing  self-interest  could  both  feel 
the  claim  and  exercise  the  patience  necessary  to 
keep  itself  diligently  at  work ;  there  is  a  third  diffi- 
culty in  the  way  of  its  success,  more  formidable  still. 
It  is  found  in  the  character  of  the  agency  which 
employs  itself  in  the  work.  It  is  selfishness  that 
prompts  and  sustains  the  effort.  Self-  aggrandize- 
ment is  the  end,  and,  being  such,  it  must  give  form 
and  color  to  all  the  effort  put  forth  to  compass  it. 
There  is  no  genuine  regard  for  the  welfare  of  the 
depressed  ones ;  they  are  sought  to  be  elevated  only 
that  they  may  be  used  as  stepping  stones,  by  the  aid 
of  which  the  toiler  may  climb  to  a  loftier  position. 
Their  virtue  is  thought  of  only  as  so  much  material, 
out  of  which  some  gain  may  be  wrought  for  him- 
self. This  is  the  spirit  in  which  the  laborer  goes 
forth  to  work. 

Now  it  is  just  that  selfish  spirit  that  constitutes  the 
curse  of  humanity,  and  explains  all  the  debasement 
of  character  of  which  the  race  struggles  to  rid  it- 
self. Sin  consists  in  selfishness  ;  its  removal  will  be 
effected  only  when  love  shall  take  the  seat  of  em- 
pire. Self-interest  has  been  schooling  the  world 
for  sixty  centuries,  and  its  success  has  been  the  meas- 
ure of  human  guilt  and  woe.  The  wider  the  range 


CHRISTIANITY:  OUR  HELP  AND  HOPE.       351 

you  give  to  human  selfishness,  the  more  hopelessly 
you  bind  the  race  in  fetters.  The  more  calculating 
you  make  it,  the  greater  is  its  power,  and  the  less 
conscience  is  connected  with  its  rule.  Only  as  you 
eradicate  selfishness,  and  enthrone  piety  and  philan- 
thropy and  justice,  have  you  done  anything  for  hu- 
man improvement.  Men's  vices  may  be  transposed, 
but  they  are  vices  still ;  they  may  be  gilded  so  that 
they  shall  be  less  hideous  to  the  superficial  eye,  but 
the  corruption  festers  beneath  the  surface,  as  the 
putridity  lay  within  the  garnished  sepulchres  of  the 
prophets.  Remove  the  disease  by  prescribing  the 
very  thing  which  created  it?  It  is  trusting  to  Satan 
to  cast  out  Satan  ;  sending  a  traitor  to  teach  loyalty  ; 
employing  an  ambitious  chieftain  to  negotiate  a 
peace ;  commissioning  Judas  Iscariot  as  an  apostle 
of  self--  devotion.  No  !  That  will  never  do.  And 
the  poor  sick  world  looks  up  sadly  and  repeats, 
"  Never  \  "  We  must  do  better  than  that. 

Let  us  look  at  another  force.     This  is, 

II.  —  THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  EXPERIENCE  AND  EX- 
AMPLE. 

Here  is  the  plea  in  its  behalf:  — 

Suffering,  or  punishment,  is  less  penal  than  in- 
structive and  reformatory.  Wrong  doing  has  al- 
ways sad  consequences,  grievous  to  bear;  while 
right  doing  gives  a  heritage  of  blessing.  In  process 
of  time,  men  will  learn  that  sin  only  curses,  and 
hence  be  deterred  from  its  commission.  The  ruin 
wrought  ifpon  others  will  prove  a  beacon  which 
time  will  cause  them  to  heed.  They  will  learn 


352  GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

that  justice  and  joy,  purity  and  peace,  are  in  wed- 
lock, to  be  divorced  by  no  human  alchemy ;  and  so 
they  will  practice  the  duties  that  they  may  gather 
up  the  rewards.  And  thus,  gradually,  will  the  race 
be  disciplined  to  righteousness  in  its  work,  and  rest 
in  the  quietness  of  its  own  virtuous  self-satisfaction. 

To  this  it  must  be  replied, 

i.  The  experience  comes  after  the  sin;  we  are 
not  told  of  our  danger  till  we  are  in  its  jaws  and 
they  are  fiercely  closing  upon  us ;  we  are  acted  on 
by  the  wrong  tendency  before  being  aware  that  it  is 
wrong.  The  instruction  may  come,  but  not,  per- 
haps, till  we  are  cursed  by  the  false  step  beyond 
the  hope  of  recovery. 

A  child  may  burn  its  hand,  and  so  be  taught  that 
coals  are  perilous  playthings  ;  but  in  the  experience 
which  teaches  that  fact,  he  may  be  maimed  for  life. 
And  the  soul  may  be  scorched  as  well  as  the  body. 

Sentence  against  an  evil  work  is  not  always  exe- 
cuted speedily,  and  so  crime  may  become  such  a  habit 
while  we  are  pocketing  its  temporary  advantages, 
that,  when  judgment  overtakes  us,  fines  and  prison 
walls  fail  to  cure  ;  or  a  halter  is  about  our  neck  be- 
fore obstinacy  gives  way  to  penitence.  So  the 
spiritual  iniquities  may  be  sweet  in  the  eating,  and 
when  they  suddenly  turn  to  bitterness  in  the  belly, 
the  imperious  moral  appetite  may  still  clamor  for 
the  accustomed  indulgence  ;  or  the  impartial  Judge 
may  stand  at  the  door  all  ready  with  his  sentence. 

The  warning  was  needed  over  the  doorway  ;  but 
it  came  only  when  the  poor  soul  was  being  borne 


CHRISTIANITY  I    OUR    HELP    AND    HOPE.          353 

headlong  to  ruin,  and  at  a  point  where  few  exercise 
the  decision  which  stops  them,  or  the  heroism  which 
brings  them  back. 

2.  Each  flatters  himself  that,  however  others  fall, 
he  shall  escape.     Men  are  self-  confident,  and  the 
weak  not  less  so  than  the  stronger.     They  attribute 
some  imbecility  to  those  who  fall,  whose  absence 
guarantees  them  a  firmer  standing.     The  peril  is 
less   operative   than   the    pride    and   the    curiosity. 
"  Do  n't  go  to  the  theatre,"  besought  a  mother  of  her 
daughter,  and  sustained  the  appeal  with  her  tears. 
"Why  not,  mother?"     "Because,  my  dear,  it  is  a 
perilous  exposure  of  one's  virtuous  principles.      I 
have  been  there,  and  seen  and  felt  the  dangers." 
"  Well,  I  shall  be  careful;  but  I  want  to  go  and  see 
them,  too"    That  brief  colloquy  reveals  the  whole 
philosophy  on  this  subject.     So  little  heeded  is  the 
warning  of  example.     Each  commends  the  lesson, 
to  others,  but  denies  that  it  is  needful  for  himself. 
Every  drinker  of  champagne  resolves  not  to  be  a 
drunkard  ;  and  though    nine  -  tenths  fall,  each  suc- 
cessor trusts  his  purpose  none  the  less. 

3.  Another  defect  in  this  force  is,  that  there  is  no 
model  experience  and  example  which  can  show  the 
goal  and  attract  to  it.     Our  own  experience  is  full 
of  dissatisfaction  and  self-  reproach ;  and  the  ex- 
amples of  life  about  us  are  impressive  chiefly  by 
their  defects.      (I   am  speaking  of  life  where  only 
these  natural  forces  are  at  wrork.)      Or,  if  it  be  in- 
sisted that  some  philosophical  Socrates  reveals  such 
an  example,  the  masses  pronounce  it  impracticable 


354  GEORGE   TIFFANY   DAY. 

for  themselves,  declaring  that  even  the  theory  of 
life  on  which  it  rests  is  above  their  comprehension. 
As  a  result,  it  lacks  power  over  them  ;  and  because 
it  lacks  power  over  them,  the  philosopher  himself 
loses  faith  in  it,  becomes  disheartened,  and  is  likely 
to  sink  to'  the  popular  level.  Why  should  he  walk 
among  the  clouds  and  starve  forgotten,  when  his 
fellows  will  not  look  up  at  his  call,  except  in  deri- 
sion? He  will  go  down  among  them,  and  learn  to 
check  his  ambition. 

No  !  The  true  experience  and  the'  moulding  ex- 
ample are  wanting.  We  feel  wrong ;  but  do  not 
reach  the  right.  We  meet  much  to  condemn  ;  but 
we  want  something  to  reverence  and  imitate.  Ed- 
ucation has  its  positive  as  well  as  its  negative  side. 
Prohibition  is  not  more  important  than  precept. 
Discipline  means  to  plant  and  train  virtues,  as  well 
as  to  eradicate  vices.  Our  teachers  must  develop  as 
well  as  repress.  We  want  something  more  than 
fiends  to  frighten  us  from  paths  we  ought  not  to 
enter ;  there  is  need  of  blessed  angels  to  beckon 
us  up  the  celestial  highways.  We  want  not  only 
to  be  disgusted  with  the  caricature  of  a  man ;  a 
•complete  specimen  of  our  species  needs  to  be  ever 
^before  our  eyes,  to  teach  us  our  capacities,  to 
show  the  culture  we  require,  to  win  us  to  the  work 
•of  copying. 

4.  Such  discipline  will  corrupt  tenfold  more 
than  it  cures.  The  Spartans  were  mistaken  when 
they  made  some  condemned  criminal  drunk,  and 
sent  him  staggering  through  the  streets  as  a  warn- 


CHRISTIANITY  :    OUR    HELP    AND    HOPE.         355 

ing  to  their  }routh  —  I  say  they  were  mistaken  when 
they  supposed  the  vicious  example  was  corrective. 
It  was  the  public  sentiment  of  Sparta  which  greeted 
the  sot  with  the  hiss  of  derision,  that  taught  temper- 
ance and  sobriety.  Let  the  gravest  and  most  re- 
nowned men  of  that  city  have  made  themselves  just 
as  drunk,  when  they  marched  up  to  their  civil  as- 
semblies or  their  temples  of  religion,  and  every 
Spartan  lad  would  have  begged  for  a  sip  from  his 
sire's  mug  of  alcohol.  Is  an  experience  of  sin  and 
an  example  of  vice  to  teach  virtue  to  the  race  ;  the 
more  bitter  the  experience  and  the  more  corrupt  the 
example,  the  more  rapidly  and  successfully  will  the 
needful  work  of  discipline  go  on?  Is  this  so?  Then 
Bibles  should  give  place  to  the  "  Age  of  Reason," 
and  the  outrages  of  violence  are  better  than  the  re- 
straints of  wholesome  law;  then  Napoleon  is  to  be 
preferred  to  Howard,  and  a  carnival  at  Paris  is 
more  valuable  than  a  Sabbath'  of  New  England. 

Let  us  turn  to  the  next  of  these  natural  forces. 
This  is 

III.  CIVIL,  GOVERNMENT. 

i.  Civil  government  is  only  a  human  product, — 
an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  men  for  allying 
their  possessed  power.  I  am  not  touching,  now, 
the  question  whether  government  is  of  divine  origin 
and  appointment.  We  should  not  probably  differ 
on  that  point.  I  am  simply  saying  that  only  human 
forces  are  employed  in  the  administration  of  govern- 
ment ;  and  hence  the  power  represented  or  exer- 
cised by  government  can  never  be  greater  than  the 


GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

combined  power  of  the  men  who  are  allied  with  it. 
Government  is  not  power ;  it  is  only  the  instrument 
employed  by  men  for  the  better  application  of  their 
power ;  for  theocracies  are  past. 

Now  the  fact  is,  that  the  defect  may  not  be  in  the 
instrument,  but  in  those  who  use  it ;  and  that  is  just 
where  the  defect  lies  in  this  case.  Men  want  the 
moral  power  which  can  secure  their  redemption ; 
that  is  just  the  lack  ;  there  is  too  little  moral  influ- 
ence in  society, —  this  is  the  radical  evil  under 
which  we  are  suffering.  They  have  too  little  force 
for  the  result ;  and  so  no  matter  how  they  may  per- 
fect the  means  of  using  their  force,  the  means  will 
reveal  no  more  than  they  possess.  If  a  ten  feet  fall 
of  water  will  not  drive  a  given  amount  of  machin- 
ery, it  is  useless  to  seek  the  result  by  building  a 
better  dam.  If  a  horse  can  draw  but  a  ton,  it  is  fol- 
ly to  hope  he  will  walk  off  with  a  ton  and  a  half  by 
giving  him  a  pair  of  new  traces.  And  society,  too 
feeble  to  rise  to  redemption,  will  not  accomplish  it 
by  struggling  through  the  avenue  of  government. 
But, 

2.  Government  expresses  and  employs  only  the 
average  moral  virtue  and  force  of  the  community, 
if  it  be  popular ;  only  the  moral  virtue  and  force 
of  the  autocrat,  if  it  be  imperial.  In  the  formation 
of  all  popular  governments  there  is  a  compromise, 
either  expressed  or  implied.  The  most  vicious  will 
not  consent  to  have  legislation  expressive  of  as 
high  morality  as  the  most  virtuous  exercise  and  de- 
sire, and  vice  versa.  The  result  is,  both  make  a 


CHRISTIANITY  :    OUR    HELP   AND    HOPE.         357 

concession,  and  form  a  government  which  is  moral- 
ly below  the  purest,  and  above  the  vilest.  The 
best  men  are  defective  enough  ;  they  feel  that  the  race 
must  rise  far  above  themselves  to  find  redemption ; 
but,  in  point  of  morality,  the  government  standard 
is  far  beneath  them,  and  so  it  will,  nay,  must  be. 
Does  that  look  as  though  this  force  were  to  turn  the 
world  speedily  into  an  Eden?  —  As  to  an  absolute 
monarchy,  little  need  be  said.  The  holding  of  such 
power  is  itself  a  vice ;  and  if  it  were  not,  it  would 
almost  certainly  corrupt  the  purest  of  men  to  exer- 
cise it ;  or  if  its  exercise  could  be  necessary,  that 
would  imply  a  debasement  in  the  people  which  al- 
ways suggests  barbarism.  In  1854,  tne  ^est  speci- 
men of  autocracy  we  can  exhibit,  is  Nicholas  the 
Czar  and  vassal  Russia. 

There  is  yet  one  other  force  to  be  inspected. 
This,  as  it  is  sometimes  termed,  is, 

IV.     THE  PROGRESSIVE  DESTINY  OF  MIND. 

Progress  is  said  to  be  the  law  of  the  universe. 
Gradual  development  is  the  process  obtaining  every- 
where. The  germ,  the  stalk,  the  flower  and  the 
fruit, —  these  are  the  steps  by  which  life  climbs  to 
perfection.  So  man  is  gradually  ascending.  He 
begins  in  ignorance  and  necessity,  comes  slowly  up 
through  barbarism ;  practice  makes  his  hand  cun- 
ning, experience  sharpens  his  intellect,  his  con- 
scious supremacy  gives  him  a  royal  air,  his  ambi- 
tion to  improve  leads  to  the  subduing  of  the  forces 
about  him,  his  awaking  conscience  shows  him  the 
law  of  morality,  his  growing  religious  aspirations 


GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

attach  him  to  God ;  till,  at  last,  his  manhood  is  com- 
plete. And  here,  it  is  said,  is  the  hope,  rather  the 
certainty,  of  human  redemption. 

To  this  beautiful   and  imposing  theory,  it  is  re- 
plied, 

I.  That  it  is  not  warranted  by  facts.  The  theo- 
ry was  not  reached  by  careful  induction  ;  it  was  evi- 
dently framed  by  some  man  made  for  a  sentimental 
poet,  but  who  mistook  his  function  and  aspired  to 
be  a  philosopher.  Throw  the  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity aside,  and  I  do  not  know  of  a  single  people 
shown  us  by  history,  whose  path  has  been  one  of 
uniform  progress.  Nay,  there  are  a  multitude  of 
facts  that  look  exactly  the  other  way.  Where  are 
the  old  civilizations,  deemed  so  glorious,  and  whose 
broken  monuments -yet  remain  to  us  —  the  Egyptian, 
the  Assyrian,  the  Grecian,  and  the  Roman?  Gone, 
all  gone  !  Imbecility  walks  listlessly  over  the  land 
of  the  Pharaohs,  wondering  at  the  Pyramids,  and 
timid  amid  the  ruins  of  Thebes.  Where  Nineveh 
and  Babylon  once  sat,  mistresses  of  the  East,  the 
bittern  and  the  satyr  have  their  lurking  places ; 
and  the  few  roving,  superstitious  descendants  of 
Nebuchadnezzar  and  Cyrus  wonder  at  the  exhumed 
bas-reliefs  which  symbolize  their  ancestral  great- 
ness. The  former  splendor  of  Athens,  where 
Homer  sang,  and  Apelles  painted,  and  Aristotle 
philosophized,  and  Demosthenes  thundered  in -the 
Forum,  seems  like  a  fabulous  story  to  the  modern 
traveller,  who  wanders  among  its  ruins.  Rome, 
after  having  pulled  down  and  set  up  as  she  would, 


CHRISTIANITY  :    OUR   HELP   AND   HOPE.        359 

herself  fell  in  pieces,  and  was  buried  beneath  the 
northern  avalanche.  The  great  mental  masters  of 
those  times  and  lands  have  given  place  to  an 
effeminate  and  sparse  posterity,  who  are  hardly 
able  to  read  their  fathers'  epitaphs.  Does  that  look 
like  progressive  destiny? 

Here  is  another  fact.  The  literature  of  every 
people,  whether  traditional  or  written,  enshrines  the 
history  of  an  early  golden  age,  when  the  gods 
talked  with  men,  and  human  nature  towered  up  un- 
der the  discipline  until  itself  grew  divine.  Each 
nation  glorifies  its  infancy,  and  kindles  into  rapture 
while  it  celebrates  its  early  purity  and  power.  Has 
that  fact  no  meaning?  Does  it  justify  the  theory  of 
perpetual  progression ;  or  is  it  an  echo  of  that  di- 
vine testimony  coming  up  from  the  first  pages  of  the 
Bible,  and  repeated  all  along  the  ages, —  "  God 
created  man  upright ;  but  they  have  sought  out 
many  inventions"?  And  one  is  anxious  to  know 
if  the  cannibals  of  the  Feejee  islands  have  been  pro- 
gressing steadily  for  six  thousand  years,  more  or 
less,  what  must  have  been  their  character  and  con- 
dition when  they  began  the  work  of  life  ;  and  if,  in 
so  long  a  time  they  have  only  reached  their  present 
stand  -  point,  how  long  it  will  require  for  them  to 
ascend  to  a  true  moral  redemption.  Alas  for  them, 
if  that  is  the  highest  promise  we  can  give,  when 
they  mournfully  ask,  "  Who  will  show  us  any 
good?" 

No  !  steady  progress  is  not  the  rule ;  it  is  not 
even  the  exception  in  human  experience,  where 


GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

revelation  has  been  withholden.  Left  to  nature 
and  themselves,  no  people  has  made  a  long  and 
steady  march  in  the  upward  direction.  I  do  not 
know  of  one  such  people  to-day, —  not  one,  even, 
that  is  advancing  in  mental  culture  and  the  growth 
of  the  arts.  Outside  of  Christendom,  if  there  be  any 
movement,  it  may  be  around  a  circle,  it  may  be  off 
in  a  tangent,  it  may  be  backward ;  it  is  not  pro- 
gressive and  ascending.  Even  intellect  is  asleep, 
save  where  the  touch  of  the  Gospel  has  startled  it. 
Indeed,  where  Christianity  found  its  cradle,  climbed 
to  its  cross,  broke  open  the  door  of  its  sepulchre, 
and  walked  royally  for  centuries,  the  old  temples 
are  rebuilt,  the  crescent  overlooks  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre, violence  lies  in  wait  beside  the  paths  trodden 
by  the  Prince  of  Peace,  and  the  lips  of  men  curl  at 
the  name  of  Jesus.  I  think  there  is  no  wave  of  des- 
tiny which  evermore  sweeps  our  race  toward  the 
gate  of  heaven.  Progress  is  normal  to  us,  without 
doubt ;  but  we  are  not  in  the  normal  state. 

2.  But  suppose  it  were  true  that  growth  in 
knowledge,  science,  art  and  influence,  were  our 
destiny.  Is  piety  always  in  proportion  to  power? 
Is  strength  synonymous  with  goodness?  Are 
human  forces  all  virtuous  forces?  We  know  the 
answer.  The  most  terrible  forces  have  come  to 
fight  virtue,  bearing  freshly  written  diplomas  in 
their  hands.  Intellect  and  skill  are  power ;  but 
they  are  often  power  perverted,  pledged  wholly  to 
wickedness.  Does  Milton's  picture  of  Satan,  with 
intellect  keen  as  a  sabre  and  awful  like  the  Alps, 


CHRISTIANITY  :    OUR    HELP    AND    HOPE.         361 

furnish  a  proof  that  large  mental  attainments  are 
always  a  lever  to  hoist  the  sensual  world  up  nearer 
to  God?  Give  Archimedes  a  fulcrum,  and  he  will 
move  the  earth.  Doubtless  he  will.  But  in  forcing 
it  from  its  position  he  may  crowd  it  toward  the 
blackness  of  darkness,  as  well  as  push  it  up  nearer 
the  empyrean.  Power  may  be  used  to  break  a  de- 
mon's chains,  as  well  as  give  vigor  to  the  sweep  of 
an  angel's  wing.  It  is  better  for  a  madman  or  an 
assassin  to  be  weak  like  a  child,  rather  than  strong 
like  Samson.  We  would  not  willingly  put  thun- 
derbolts into  the  hands  of  a  man  of  passion.  Till 
principle  rind  a  home  in  the  heart,  till  duty  is  felt  to 
be  sacred,  till  love  and  pity  dwell  with  men,  till 
God  be  reverenced  in  the  earth,  the  expansion  of 
intellect  and  the  growth  of  invention  promise  us 
nothing  but  curses.  I  will  pray  that  our  poor  race 
may  rest  in  an  innocent  infancy,  rather  than  ad- 
vance to  a  reckless  maturity.  Ours  had  been  a  far 
better  world  if  its  Alexanders  and  Cassars  had  always 
lain  in  their  cradles,  and  been  kissed  by  grateful 
lips  to  happiness  and  dreams. —  No !  there  is  no 
forced  march  of  humanity  that  terminates  only  at 
the  gates  of  the  sky. 

All  these  forces  are  defective.  I  have  spoken  of 
the  specific  grounds  of  their  inadequacy.  In  gen- 
eral terms  they  fail ;  because, 

i.  They  can  not  bring  the  great  facts  which  set 
forth  our  state  and  relations  toward  God.  We 
need  to  know  our  condition.  We  want  a  host  of 
questions  answered.  Why  are  we  here?  Whither 


362  GEORGE  TIFFANY  DAY. 

do  we  tend?  What  is  before  us?  What  mean  our 
disquiet,  our  consciousness  of  guilt,  and  our  dread 
of  judgment?  May  we  be  forgiven,  and  how?  Is 
there  help  for  our  weakness,  rest  for  our  spirits,  an 
ample  provision  for  our  moral  necessities?  These 
questions  call  for  replies,  —  not  the  replies  of  con- 
jecture or  credulity,  but  of  wisdom,  truth,  authority. 
Till  these  are  answered,  and  our  faith  is  satisfied, 
we  can  not  rest ;  but  are  tossed  on  treacherous 
waves,  and  trembling  before  destruction.  To  these 
inquiries  none  of  these  afore  -  mentioned  sources 
afford  a  response.  Self-interest,  experience,  govern- 
ment, progress, —  all  are  forced  to  be  silent,  for 
they  have  nothing  to  reply. 

2.  They  set  up  no  definite  standard  of  life  which 
satisfies  the  heart ;  they  leave  duty  without  exposi- 
tion ;  they  reveal  no  distinct  goal  toward  which  as- 
piration and  effort  may  turn  and  struggle.     They 
leave  the  purpose  aimless,  and  set  human  energy 
to  beat  the  air. 

3.  They  lack  the  moral  motive  power  requisite 
to  overcome  the  selfish  tendencies  of  the  race,  and 
bend  the  spirit  into  the  service  of  God,  and  dedicate 
its  power  to  the  welfare  of  men.     This  is  the  great 
lack.     Motive  power  is  the  chief  defect  in  every 
system  of  morality.     Men  see  duty,  approve  the 
right,    confess   its    claims ;   but   the    selfish    nature 
rebels   in   practice.     And   in   this    fierce  struggle, 
others  than  Paul  have  cried  out,  "  O  wretched  man 
that  I  am  ! "     The  hard  heart  needs  to  be  melted, 
the   wayward   affections    captivated    and    held    by 


CHRISTIANITY  :    OUR    HELP   AND    HOPE.         363 

righteousness.  Men  whose  souls  are  magazines  of 
passion,  want  something  more  than  light  and  con- 
science ;  they  want  a  holy  magnetism  to  which  the 
heart  joyfully  yields  itself.  And  that  motive  power 
is  wanting  to  all  and  each  of  these  forces  which 
offer  their  ministry  to  the  needy  world.  They  may 
be  strong  for  other  tasks,  but  how  to  save  the  sink- 
ing soul  they  find  not. 

And  these  are  man's  boasted  possessions,  the 
sources  of  his  trust,  the  helpers  that  stoop  over  a 
prostrate  nature.  It  is  mockery  to  offer  such  things 
as  these  to  our  race.  Smitten  and  afflicted  as  it  is, 
what  can  they  do  for  it  ?  It  may  well  turn  away  as 
did  Job  from  his  friends,  saying,  with  a  gesture  of 
impatience  and  a  heart  of  disappointment,  "  Miser- 
able comforters  are  ye  all !  "  Away  !  Leave  me 
alone  to  die  ! 

And  is  our  poor  race  doomed  ?  Must  its  long  cher- 
ished hopes  die  slowly  and  sadly  out  ?  Is  its  future 
to  be  only  a  repetition  of  its  past?  Is  it  to  grope  on, 
waiting  vainly  for  light ;  to  cry  out  piteously  and 
listen  in  vain  for  the  footstep  of  an  approaching 
helper?  Look  up  !  "Who  is  this  that cometh  from 
Edom,  with  dyed  garments  from  Bozrah?  this  that 
is  glorious  in  his  apparel,  travailing  in  the  greatness 
of  his  strength?"  Listen  to  his  repl}r.  "I  that 
speak  in  righteousness,  mighty  to  save."  Yes,  it  is 
HE,  — "the  Desire  of  the  nations."  "Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world  !  "  The  Son  of  God  is  set  forth  among  us. 

How  does  Christ  meet  our  necessities  ?      '  ' 


364  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

1.  He  brings  the  needed  truth.     He   tells  us  the 
sad  story  of  our  fall,  and  delineates  feature   after 
feature  in  our  corrupted  characters ;  and  as  he  pro- 
ceeds, memory  and  consciousness,  reason  and  ex- 
perience, rise  up  to  proclaim  every  statement  true. 
With  great  clearness  and  authority  he  shows  us  the 
way  of  salvation.     Or,    if   ever    our  suspicion     is 
awakened,  and  doubt  diminishes   the  force  of  his 
testimony,  he  sees  the  necessity  and  hastens  to  meet 
it.     Some  sightless  beggar  opens  his  eyes  at  his 
bidding ;  leprous  men  grow  pure  at  a  command  ; 
Gennesaret  sleeps  at  his  fiat ;  loaves  multiply  at  his 
touch  ;  Lazarus  marches  from  the  tomb  at  his  call ; 
and  heaven  speaks   its  approbation  in  response  to 
his  prayer ;  until  all   distrust  vanishes,    and    each 
satisfied  soul  cries  out,  "We  know  that  thou  art  a 
teacher  come  from  God  I  "     Henceforth  the  seal  is 
removed  from  the  book  of  our  destiny,  the    scales 
fall   from    the    eyes,    and   the    long   sought    truth 
streams  steadily  on  the  inquiring  spirit.     "  Whereas 
I  was  once  blind,  now  I  see." 

2.  He  reveals  the  model  character,   and  so  gives 
definiteness  to  our  aims,  a  path  and  a  goal  for  our 
aspiration  and  effort. 

The  question,  "What  is  virtue?"  is  answered 
when  we  look  at  him.  The  completeness  of  man- 
hood is  before  us,  and  our  critical  eye  and  yearn- 
ing heart  are  satisfied.  There  he  stands,  solitary 
in  his  superiority,  yet  pouring  out  streams  of  sym- 
pathy for  the  lowliest  and  vilest,  purer  and  deeper 
than  ever  flowed  from  a  woman's  heart.  In  him 


CHRISTIANITY  :    OUR    HELP    AND    HOPE.         365 

blend  majesty  and  gentleness ;  the  awful  face  of 
justice  and  the  pleading  eye  of  love  meet  at  once 
the  gaze  of  the  beholder.  Hoary  -  headed  and 
hard  -  hearted  guilt  sees  something  in  him  more 
terrible  than  in  the  executioner ;  while  innocence, 
though  timid  as  a  fawn,  pillows  its  head  confidently 
on  his  bosom.  In  his  unbending  integrity  he  is 
firmer  than  granite  ;  in  his  touching  condescension 
there  is  no  want  so  low  but  he  stoops  without  effort 
to  its  level.  To  serve  him  would  seem  an  honor 
for  which  angels  might  contend ;  but  he  can  wash 
the  feet  of  the  disciple  who  is  planning  his  betrayal. 
He  discloses  the  greatness  of  God,  and  the  meek- 
ness of  the  humblest  man. 

And  his  life,  how  full  is  it  of  power  and  beauty ! 
It  is  at  once  heroic  as  a  singing  martyr's  death,  and 
as  beautiful  as  a  mother's  ministry  about  the  couch 
of  her  moaning  babe  at  midnight.  Now  he  is 
driving  a  cohort  of  evil  spirits  into  the  deep,  and 
now  folding  childhood  with  a  whispered  prayer  to 
his  bosom.  At  one  hour  his  own  disciples  cry  out 
in  terror  as  his  awful  form  sweeps  over  the  mid- 
night sea,  and  at  another,  guilt  kneels  before  him 
to  hear  him  say,  "  Go  and  sin  no  more."  But  I  can 
not  tell  you  of  him  or  his  life.  He  is  Immanuel ; 
and  his  life  a  prolonged  benediction.  Go  and  study 
both,  and  you  will  go  no  farther  for  a  model,  or  be 
in  doubt  about  your  appropriate  work. 

3.  He  gives  the  motive  power  which  takes  control 
of  the  wayward  heart. 

Showing  us  his  character,  he  awakens  our  rever- 


366  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

ence  and  admiration ;  exhibiting  his  love  for  us  in 
toils  for  our  sake,  our  hard  hearts  melt,  and  our 
gratitude  leaps  forward  to  serve  him ;  for  his  great 
service  our  self-  devotion  for  his  sake  becomes  a 
ruling  force ;  seeing  the  value  of  his  interests,  we 
ally  our  all  with  him  and  his ;  his  wishes  are  our 
chief  impulse  ;  his  expressed  will  our  highest  law  ; 
our  zeal  to  please  and  honor  him  becomes  a  living 
fire.  The  heart  has  become  loyal,  for  now  it  has 
found  its  sovereign.  It  is  no  more  a  mysterious 
saying,  but  a  joyful  truth  of  experience,  that,  "THE 
LOVE  OF  CHRIST  CONSTRAINETH  us."  A  patriot 
dying  for  his  country,  a  daughter  sacrificing  all, 
that  a  mother's  last  few  days  may  be  less  sorrow- 
ful—  these  are  feeble  illustrations  of  that  motive 
power  with  which  Christ  impels  us,  of  that  mag- 
netic bond  that  draws  and  holds  us  to  himself.  So 
is  the  cord  of  selfishness  snapped,  and  the  soul  has 
gained  redemption. 

4.  This  work  accomplished  in  and  for  us,  we  are 
ready  for  the  Master's  bidding.  Now  let  him  say, 
as  he  does  say,  to  such  a  captivated  soul,  "  Go  seek 
your  fellows,  and  lead  them  to  God;  teach  igno- 
rance ;  win  back  the  wayward  from  evil  paths ; 
gather  in  the  outcast;  bid  the  despairing  hope,  and 
the  dying  live  ;  save  them  for  my  sake ;  this  is  the 
proof  of  your  love,  and  the  condition  of  my  honor 
—  let  Christ  say  that,  and  philanthropy  shall  rest 
in  waiting  no  longer.  No  second  command  is 
needed.  Nakedness  will  be  clothed,  hunger  fed, 
sickness  blessed,  crime  forgiven,  guilty  penitence 


CHRISTIANITY  :    OUR   HELP   AND    HOPE.         367 

brought  to  the  Master's  feet.  If  the  constraining 
love  has  passed  within  us,  we  shall  not  tarry.  We 
are  strong  to  suffer  or  to  do.  Reproach,  opposition, 
sneers,  temporary  ill  success,  unappreciation  by 
those  we  toil  for,  — what  are  these?  Our  enthusi- 
asm is  fed  by  the  divine  fountain.  In  the  moment 
of  irresolution  we  look  once  at  the  Cross,  and  the 
flagging  energies  leap  to  work  again ;  or  we  listen, 
with  the  ear  turned  heavenward,  to  hear  a  voice  say, 
"Well  done;"  and  our  reward  and  our  inspiration 
have  come  to  us.  We  are  the  servants  of  men,yi?r 
Jesus'  sake;  and  we  bear  them  the -same  Gospel 
that  has  won  us  forever.  Will  they  not  be  won 
also?  Surely,  it  shall  not  return  void.  Its  mission 
is  to  conquer.  The  desert  will  blossom.  The  sower 
shall  shout  to  the  reaper,  as  both  sit  down  rejoicing 
over  the  gathered  sheaves.  "The  mountains  and 
the  hills  shall  break  forth  into  singing,  and  all 
the  trees  of  the  field  shall  clap  their  hands ;  " 

'•  While,  nation  after  nation,  taught  the  strain, 
Earth  rolls  the  rapturous  hosanna  round." 

We  come,  to-  day,  to  dedicate  this  goodly  temple 
to  the  great  work  of  redeeming  men  by  means  of 
this  Gospel  of  Christ.  It  speaks  not  only  of  the 
end  we  would  attain,  but  equally  of  the  means  we 
would  employ  in  compassing  it.  The  chief  theme 
of  thought  and  speech  here  is  "  Jesus  Christ  and 
him  crucified."  The  divinity  whose  presence  will 
be  sought  here  is  the  universal  Father  ;  the  oracle 
to  which  the  gathered  company  will  listen,  is  that 
which  spake  at  Sinai,  and  Calvary,  and  Olivet  — 


368  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

proclaiming  justice  and  mercy  and  redemption. 
When  weary  and  sad  humanity,  with  heavy  heart 
and  dimmed  vision,  waiting  long  and  vainly  for  re- 
lief beside  the  Bethesda  pools  of  nature,  comes 
here  to  rest  from  some  fresh  disappointment,  it  shall 
start  with  gladness  at  the  pitying  and  triumphant 
cry  that  greets  it  on  the  threshold,  "Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God  ! "  and  then,  with  beaming  eye  and 
face  toward  heaven,  it  shall  take  up  its  couch  and 
walk  up  to  where  frailties  drop  off  as  a  worn  out 
garment,  and  experience  becomes  a  lofty  and  eter- 
nal paean. 

As  preached  in  this  house,  Jesus  Christ  and  him 
crucified  shall  mean  not  only  Jesus  Christ  the  giver 
of  heavenly  hopes,  but  Jesus  Christ  the  expounder 
of  duty  and  the  legislator  for  life.  He  shall  be 
shown,  to  be  sure,  with  the  weeping  Magdalen  at 
his  feet,  that  the  guiltiest  penitence  may  never  de- 
spair ;  but  he  shall  not  be  forgotten  when  he  makes 
reputable  Phariseeism  quiver  and  turn  pale  before 
the  artillery  of  his  reproof. 

I  have  spoken  of  four  great  forces  in  society,  and 
exhibited  their  inadequacy  to  reach  and  save  the 
race,  — indeed,  I  have  shown  how  they  often  fight 
against  its  welfare.  But  the  pulpit,  while  preach- 
ing Christ,  is  by  no  means  to  ignore  the  existence 
of  these  forces,  nor  pass  them  by  on  the  other  side, 
either  in  carelessness  or  contempt.  It  is  no  small 
part  of  its  business  to  mould  them  into  a  higher 
image,  and  then  subsidize  them  into  its  service. —  to 
change  them  from  foes  into  allies,  as  the  malefac- 


CHRISTIANITY  :    OUR   HELP   AND   HOPE.        369 

tor's  cross,  after  the  Redeemer  had  hung  upon  it, 
became  the  symbol  of  the  loftiest  virtue. 

Self-interest  will  sit  here  now  and  then  in  these 
pews ;  let  it  go  away  ashamed  of  its  low  maxims 
and  its  calculating  spirit,  as  it  learns  of  Him  who 
for  our  sake  became  poor,  that  we  through  his  pov- 
erty might  be  made  rich. 

Politicians  will  now  and  then  come  here, —  that 
strange  modern  race  of  beings  that  so  wretchedly 
caricature  humanity, —  politicians,  who  find  their 
decalogue  in  a  party  platform,  their  goal  of  virtue 
in  a  successful  election,  and  their  highest  heaven  in 
a  well  -  salaried  office.  Let  them  come;  but  let 
them  find  wide  open  a  statute  -  book  which  tests  the 
validity  of  all  civil  constitutions;  let  them  find  a 
law  which,  however  it  may  be  sneered  at  by  the 
mightiest  men  you  ever  cradled  among  your  mount- 
ains, is  "  higher"  than  your  Mount  Washington,  or 
the  Alleghanies,  and  which  spurns  all  vicious  com- 
promises ;  let  them  be  put  face  to  face  with  a  Ruler 
before  whom  even  the  political  giants  of  the  West- 
ern Republic  are  but  as  the  small  dust  of  the  bal- 
ance, who  remembers  every  sigh  of  the  oppressed, 
and  forgets  no  act  of  treachery. 

And  not  less  important,  but  far  more  grateful, 
will  be  the  task  set  this  pulpit,  of  calling  together, 
from  time  to  time,  this  gathered  company  of  ingen- 
uous youth,*  whose  daily  culture  gives  them  keener 
eyes  with  which  to  survey  the  works  of  God,  and 
larger  power  for  whose  exercise  they  are  to  be  held 

•The  students  of  the  New  Hampton  Literary  and  Biblical  Institution. 


37°  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

responsible,  and  teaching  them  how  to  see  Jehovah 
in  his  creation,  and  how  to  honor  Christ  in  the  lay- 
ing of  every  fresh  acquisition  at  his  feet.  Beautiful 
companionship  —  the  seminary  and  the  sanctuary 
—  science  and  religion  —  the  elder  and  the  newer 
Scripture  —  the  works  and  the  word  —  the  study 
and  the  worship  —  the  kindling  intellect  and  the  as- 
piring heart.  The  one  shall  save  from  that  super- 
stitious devotion,  whose  mother  is  ignorance;  the 
other  shall  guard  against  that  vain  philosophy, 
which  begins  in  self-  conceit  and  ends  in  moral 
ruin.  Each  is  the  complement  of  the  other;  let 
them  clasp  hands  before  us  in  reverent  affection  to  - 
day,  while  we  pronounce  over  them  the  sacred 
formula,  "  What  God  hath  joined  together,  let  no 
man  j>ut  asunder  " 

In  erecting  this  house  for  the  ministry  of  the  Gos- 
pel, we  try  no  new  experiment.  We  only  follow 
God's  appointment,  and  confide  in  the  testimony  of 
two  thousand  years  now  passed  into  history.  The 
redeeming  power  of  the  Gospel  is  now  more  than  a 
divine  prophecy ;  it  is  a  solid,  living  fact.  Wherev- 
er faithfully  preached,  the  darkness  has  fled  away, 
and  the  true  light  appeared.  So,  thank  God,  the 
promise  pledges  it  shall  ever  be.  So  may  it  be  here  ; 
so  let  it  be.  Here  may  weary,  heavy  laden  ones 
find  rest.  Here  may  guilty  penitence  be  bidden  to 
•"  go  and  sin  no  more."  Here  may  mourners  be 
comforted.  Here  may  childhood  learn  to  lay  itself 
confidingly  in  the  great  Saviour's  arms,  maturity 
and  strength  be  taught  to  give  their  large  resources 


CHRISTIANITY:  OUR  HELP  AND  HOPE.      371 

to  God,  and  trembling  age,  waiting  for  its  transla- 
tion, find  every  shadow  fleeing  from  the  tomb  it  en- 
ters. Here  may  the  fellowship  of  him  who  shall 
stand  where  I  stand,  and  of  those  who  shall  sit 
where  you  sit,  be  sweet  on  earth,  and  ripen  to  an 
eternal  union.  To  these  high  ends  is  this  sanctua- 
ry dedicated.  Hail !  Father,  Saviour,  Sanctifier. 
In  thy  name  we  set  up  our  banners,  and  seek  thy 
presence  for  our  waiting  temple.  "Arise,  O  Lord, 
into  thy  resting  place,  thou  and  the  ark  of  thy 
strength  :  let  thy  priests  be  clothed  with  righteous- 
ness, and  let  thy  saints  shout  aloud  for  joy." 


372  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 


IV. 


THE    BRIGHT    AND    DARK    SIDES    OF    LIFE. 

Two  visitors  were  standing  before  a  distinguished 
painting  by  Rembrandt,  in  one  of  the  galleries  of  the 
Louvre.  One  gazed  a  moment,  turned  the  leaves 
of  his  catalogue  to  learn  the  subject,  gave  it  a  sec- 
ond glance,  when  a  half-  suppressed  sigh  escaped 
him,  and  with  a  dissatisfied  expression  he  slowly 
turned  to  other  works  of  art. 

Rembrandt's  pictures  always  appear  as  if  hung 
in  shadow,  or  made  somber  by  deepening  twilight ; 
and  the  visitor,  impressed  and  saddened  by  the 
gloomy  hue  of  the  canvas,  had  no  inclination  to  lin- 
ger where  his  already  too  heavy  heart  had  nothing 
offered  it  but  an  additional  burden. 

His  companion  was  not  so  soon  satisfied.  He 
first  glanced  over  the  whole  scene,  and  then  com- 
menced its  study  in  detail.  Beneath  that  veil  of 
shadow,  he  saw  the  tracings  of  genius  and  skill. 
Those  shadowy  faces  seemed  revealing  the  inward 
struggle  of  a  life  -  time  ;  those  dusky  brows  told  of 
lofty  purposes.  The  conflicts  which  had  shaken 
the  world  were  symbolized  before  him.  The  som- 
ber painting  became  an  illuminated  history  of  the 
best  half  of  the  world, —  a  silent,  magnificent  Epic. 
He  turned  away  from  it  at  length  with  an  air  which 
indicated  that  some  new  glory  had  fallen  on  his 


BRIGHT    AND    DARK    SIDES    OF    LIFE.  373 

eyes,  and  the  power  of  a  new  hope  had  passed  into 
his  heart. 

Such  a  Rembrandt  picture  is  our  life  ;  and  such 
is  the  difference  of  view  and  of  impression  made,  as 
it  passes  under  the  eye  of  different  observers.  One 
sees  shadow,  lighter  or  deeper,  falling  on  every  ob- 
ject, leaving  every  outline  dim  and  confused ;  an- 
other finds  brightness  on  every  hill -top,  sunbeams 
and  flowers  in  every  valley.  One  sings  amid 
scenes  where  his  neighbor  can  only  sigh  and  weep. 
The  same  inscription  is  now  translated  so  that  it 
promises  a  blessing,  and  then  so  that  it  threatens  a 
curse.  One  sees  life  perpetually  on  the  dark  side, 
the  other  on  its  bright.  The  shadowy  veil  blurs 
everything  to  one  eye,  while  another  detects  star- 
gleam  and  beauty. 

These  two  classes  of  men  and  these  two  phases 
of  life  are  found  in  stately  mansions  and  in  humblest 
cottages.  They  often  inhabit  the  same  dwelling, 
sit  around  the  same  board,  and  are  busy  with  the 
same  tasks.  Some  men's  faces  are  bland  as  sum- 
mer morning  in  one  circle,  but  severe  as  Juno  in 
her  wrath  when  outside  the  charmed  ring.  Lips  that 
drop  honey  in  society,  sometimes  distill  wormwood 
at  home.  Half  the  heaven  over  some  men's  heads 
is  perpetually  dark;  the  remainder  has  an  azure  fir- 
mament and  Orion  and  the  Pleiades  shine  nowhere 
more  gloriously. 

There  are  various  reasons  for  these  different  as- 
pects of  life,  some  of  which  are  known  while  others 
are  hidden. 


374  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

The  natural  and  artificial  surroundings  of  men 
do  much  to  affect  their  view  of  life.  If  one  were 
doomed  to  spend  his  days  in  a  tent  in  Sahara,  or  in 
an  Esquimaux  hut,  near  the  Pole,  he  might  be  par- 
doned for  calling  this  a  hard  world ;  or  for  having 
so  little  interest  in  it  as  to  say  nothing  when  he 
found  his  walrus  blubber  used  up  in  February,  and 
the  temperature  stationary  at  60  degrees  below  zero. 
Wherever  the  climate  is  inhospitable,  the  soil  bar- 
ren; where  food  is  scanty,  intelligence  wanting, 
and  selfishness  supreme,  it  is  hardly  reasonable  to 
look  for  the  bright  side  of  life.  Amid  splendid  cit- 
ies are  to  be  found  deserts  as  terrible  as  Sahara ; 
shivering  want  as  hard  to  bear  as  the  cold  of  polar 
icebergs ;  ignorance,  vice  and  superstition  as  de- 
grading as  in  Hindustan. 

Sometimes  the  whole  aspect  of  life  is  determined 
or  changed  by  a  single  peculiar  experience.  A 
child  comes  to  a  dwelling  long  somber  and  shad- 
owy, and  at  once  there  is  the  dawn  of  joy  and  hope ; 
that  little  face  warms  and  kindles  like  a  sun,  filling 
the  whole  circle  of  life  with  its  beams.  Sometimes 
a  bereavement  turns  every  cup  into  bitterness,  and 
grief  succeeds  laughter  and  song. 

A  man  inherits  an  estate  or  draws  a  prize  in  the 
lottery  of  stocks,  or  mounts  to  a  petty  office,  and  all 
at  once  the  ways  of  Providence  seem  full  of  equity. 
Fire  consumes  a  warehouse;  the  tempest  sinks  a 
ship ;  or  a  political  opponent  beats  him,  and  he  fills 
his  days  with  croaking,  charges  the  world  with  in- 
gratitude, and  declares  the  devil  had  never  so  many 


BRIGHT   AND    DARK    SIDES    OF    LIFE.  375 

dupes  and  allies  as  to-day.  Sometimes  a  giddy, 
thoughtless  life  amid  luxurious  indolence,  is  reached 
by  misfortune,  which  repeats  the  decree.  :  "In  the 
sweat  of  thy  brow  shalt  thou  eat  bread,"  and  the 
mortification  and  weakness  which  follow  induce  a 
peevishness  which  sooner  or  later  ends  in  a  death  - 
scene  upon  which  no  angel  -  faces  look  lovingly 
down.  Another  nature,  long  fettered  by  convention- 
alities, walks  forth  into  freedom  at  the  call  of  bank- 
ruptcy ;  and  goes  to  quarry  heart  wealth  in  labor, 
and  grow  beautiful  in  active  goodness. 

Some  see  nothing  of  all  their  multitude  of  bless- 
ings, because  blinded  by  the  tears  over  the  loss  of 
one ;  others  only  learn  the  value  of  what  is  left 
through  the  pain  over  the  loss  of  what  is  gone. 
Not  only  does  the  departing  blessing  brighten  as  it 
flies,  but  as  it  looks  back  it  transfigures  into  splen- 
dor all  that  tarry,  and  tells  us  for  the  first  time  what 
unspeakable  wealth  is  ours. 

Some  men  are  so  endowed  that  hope  always  tar- 
ries with  them, —  to  others  it  pays  only  rare  and 
brief  visits.  In  the  darkest  night  one  looks  in  the 
east  for  a  streak  of  dawn,  sure  that  the  sun  is  throw- 
ing smiles  before  him  ;  another  never  fails  to  re- 
mind you  in  what  gloom  the  light  of  many  a  brill- 
iant day  has  gone  out. 

The  character  of  the  observer  projects  itself  upon 
all  surrounding  life.  The  world  is  more  or  less  a 
mirror  where  men  see  their  own  faces  without  al- 
ways recognizing  them.  A  man  seems  to  see 
meanness  in  his  neighbor  when  really  he  looks  up- 


376  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

on  his  own  meanness.  A  man  of  real  worth  is 
charitable  over  the  faults  and  follies  of  his  race.  A 
bankrupt  in  character  pronounces  severe  verdicts 
over  good  men.  He  whose  spirit  is  like  a  tent  of 
angels,  in  which  both  comfort  and  the  Comforter 
abide,  whose  path  is  marked  by  monuments  to  God's 
helpfulness,  who  sees  the  gate  of  immortality  before 
him,  —  such  a  spirit  walks  amid  brightness,  and  its 
pulses  are  notes  of  praise. 

One  man  so  interprets  duty  that  he  feels  bound  to 
walk  abroad  as  the  strange  man  at  the  siege  of  Je- 
rusalem, dropping  only  wailings  from  his  lips. 

Another  gives  himself  to  the  work  of  scattering 
the  beatitudes  of  Olivet,  as  a  summer  night  scatters 
dew.  Some  natures  are  always  merry  because 
they  are  too  superficial  to  be  sad, —  there  is  not 
depth  of  soil  sufficient  for  a  real  sorrow  to  strike  its 
roots  into.  Now  and  then  a  man  seems  trying  ,to 
get  a  reputation  for  wisdom,  or  to  gain  notoriety,  by 
being  snappish  and  surly.  Not  being  able  to  be 
felt  when  moving  with  others,  owing  to  the  small- 
ness  of  his  momentum,  he  turns  and  runs  with  what 
little  force  he  has,  against  them.  Even  small  men 
of  this  stamp  can  do  much  to  divest  life  of  its  agree- 
ableness ;  for  small  quantities,  like  a  grain  of  assa- 
foetida,  are  sometimes  readily  appreciable. 

These  influences  and  many  others  besides,  aid  in 
giving  life  its  somber  or  luminous  aspects,  and  the 
heart  its  sadness  or  its  joy.  Sunshine  and  shadow 
are  both  around  us  ;  both  daily  fall  on  our  path.  The 
world  is  neither  wholly  good  nor  wholly  bad.  Men 


BRIGHT    AND    DARK    SIDES    OF   LIFE.  377 

are  neither  saints  nor  demons  when  the  average  of 
character  is  reached ;  if  they  are  in  its  extremes. 
There  is  beauty  around  us,  and  that  is  an  unfortu- 
nate heart  that  can  not  drink  it  in.  Firmament,  sea 
and  mountain  wear  perpetual  grandeur;  flower, 
dew  -  drop  and  zephyr  tell  of  quiet,  all  -  embracing 
love  ;  bird  -  song  and  rill,  and  the  humming  of  bees 
charm  away  care ;  the  laugh  of  happy  children,  the 
loves  of  home,  give  rest  to  the  spirit ;  the  tireless 
watch  of  sympathy  around  sick  beds,  wearying  out 
the  stars ;  the  great,  yet  modest,  labors  of  philan- 
thropy, teaching  penitence  and  making  hopeless 
sorrow  smile ;  the  saintship  which  walks  meekly 
amid  scoffers  all  its  appointed  time,  till  it  rises 
triumphant  to  heaven  ;  —  all  these  stir  a  holy  rever- 
ence, and  turn  even  prayer  into  thanksgiving.  These 
sunbursts  gild  the  darkest  clouds  that  ever  rise  above 
us,  and  fleck  the  dreariest  landscape  with  spots  of 
gold.  They  are  evermore  around  us,  and  he  who 
truly  seeks  shall  find  them. 

Life  has  its  dark  side.  The  firmament  drops 
down  thunderbolts  that  shiver  whatever  they  touch  ; 
the  sea  becomes  vexed,  and  a  thousand  eyes  grow 
heavy,  wet  and  wild,  as  they  are  strained  to  see  the 
ship  that  never  comes  into  port ;  dews  give  a  fatal 
chill  to  the  wanderer ;  the  breeze  brings  pestilence  ; 
sweet  tones  are  often  siren  notes ;  the  laugh  of 
childhood  dies  out  from  the  home ;  the  tempter 
leaves  our  firesides  desolate  ;  and  warm  hearts  grow 
strange  to  ours.  Many  look  to  heaven  only  to  re- 
member that  thence  came  a  heavy  and  relentless 


378  GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

hand    that     smote    all    their    ideals  into    powder. 

This  mingling  of  light  and  shadow  serves  high  pur- 
poses in  a  life  like  ours,  where  mental  and  spiritual 
discipline  is  needed.  A  healthy  life  can  not  be 
evolved  in  the  perpetual  glare  of  the  sun.  Half 
the  processes  concerned  in  the  growth  of  a  plant 
can  be  carried  on  only  when  the  sun  has  gone 
down.  The  human  spirit  thrives  only  when  dark- 
ness alternates  with  splendor. 

It  requires  no  argument  to  satisfy  most  men  that 
it  is  a  blessing  to  see  the  bright  side  of  life,  and 
dwell  where  sunlight  tarries.  We  shrink  at  sight 
of  a  cloud;  we  pray  against  calamity,  and  send  our 
friends  out  into  life  with  a  wish  that  they  may  never 
know  a  heart-  grief.  But  let  us  ask,  what  valuable 
ends  do  shadows  promote,  what  good  can  come  to 
us  from  disappointments,  burdens,  sorrows,  bereave- 
ments and  dreary  watches  of  faith  ? 

He  who  would  minister  wisely  to  sad,  broken 
hearts,  needs  to  comprehend  the  experiences  of 
those  who  claim  his  sympathy.  This  work  covers  a 
large  part  of  every  life.  We  are  set  to  help  each 
other.  The  strong  are  to  hold  up  the  weak,  the 
wise  to  teach  the  ignorant,  the  pure  to  promote  puri- 
ty, the  well  supplied  to  minister  to  the  needy. 

The  wisest  teachers  are  those  who  have  thirsted 
for  knowledge ;  the  most  precious  sympathy  is  born 
of  suffering.  Howard  breathes  day  after  day  the 
chill,  tainted  air  of  dungeons  that  he  may  the  sooner 
bring  a  humane  spirit  within  the  door  of  prisons ; 
Dorothea  Dix  dwells  amid  the  ravings  of  chained 


BRIGHT    AND    DARK    SIDES    OF    LIFE.  379 

maniacs  before  she  learns  to  read  the  beatitudes  so 
that  the  eye  of  insanity  loses  its  strange  fire.  The 
charge  at  Balaklava  and  the  camp  life  of  the  Cri- 
mean soldiery  accomplished  nothing  else  so  impor- 
tant and  glorious  as  when  they  called  forth  the  min- 
istries of  Florence  Nightingale ;  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
must  become  the  man  of  sorrows  before  anxious 
mothers  lay  their  children  on  his  bosom,  and  the 
Magdalen  weeps  her  despair  away  at  his  feet,  and 
takes  a  heavenly  hope  to  her  heart.  Beneath  clouds 
that  hide  every  star,  amid  darkness  that  can  be  felt, 
many  a  man  has  walked  weary  distances  before  he 
could  lead  blinded  and  stumbling  travellers  along 
gloomy  paths. 

The  griefs  of  life,  alone,  reveal  the  soul  fully  to 
itself.  When  the  sun  goes  down,  there  are  tones, 
some  gentle  and  others  majestic,  coming  up  from 
the  orchestra  of  nature,  which  are  rarely  heard  at 
noon ;  creation  spreads  out  some  of  her  finest,  rich- 
est views  only  when  the  staring  day  has  withdrawn. 
Night  marshalls  the  constellations,  and  marches 
them  majestically  slow,  silent  and  sublime  across 
the  field  of  azure  ;  the  cadences  of  the  breeze  in  the 
forest,  and  the  roll  of  the  sea  -  waves  on  the  distant 
strand,  blend  with  the  voices  that  come  from  field, 
marsh  and  river  -  bank,  making  an  oratorio  which 
dies  away  at  dawn.  So  there  are  phases  of  the 
soul  which  sorrow,  only,  exhibits  ;  there  are  chords 
in  our  nature  which  never  vibrate  until  calamity 
strikes  them  ;  qualities  never  truly  seen  till  the  dust 
is  washed  from  them  by  tears. 


380  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

Capacities  are  brought  forth  by  sorrow.  Half  of 
Egypt  would  be  desert  but  for  the  regular  flood 
which  the  Nile  brings  down.  So  itis  only  when  some 
great  and  terrible  convulsion  has  laid  the  heart 
waste,  and  some  flood  of  calamity  swept  over  the 
soul,  that  new  resources  are  opened,  and  hidden 
power  appears. 

"  The  night  is  mother  of  the  day, 

The  winter  of  the  spring, 
And  ever  upon  old  decay, 

The  greenest  mosses  cling. 
Behind  the  cloud  the  starlight  lurks, 

Through  showers  the  sunbeams  fall, 
For  God,  who  loveth  all  his  works, 

Hath  left  his  hope  with  all." 

A  blind  hopefulness  is  born  of  a  weak  vision. 
Gravity  and  tears  are  manly ;  a  great  and  true  soul 
answers  to  the  De  Profundis  as  well  as  to  the 
Hallelujah. 

Hopeful,  courageous  men  only,  can  long  be 
leaders.  We  do  not  make  captains  of  croakers. 
Cynics  are  distrusted.  When  a  man  begins  to 
whine,  his  audience  leaves  him.  A  cheerful  face,  a 
resolute  will,  a  persevering  hope,  are  the  qualities 
that  rally  followers.  Men  of  courage  and  faith 
open  avenues  to  enterprise.  Faith  and  hope  have 
wrought  out  the  grand  achievements  of  history. 
Neither  ability,  nor  foresight,  nor  fierceness,  can 
walk  a  monarch  among  men,  and  lead  society  like 
a  captain,  so  long  as  they  live  in  shadow  and  speak 
in  -sighs.  Pleasantry  will  sometimes  overcome  a 
prejudice  which  defies  batteries  of  logic  ;  and  men 


BRIGHT   AND   DARK    SIDES    OF    LIFE.  381 

who  grew  pale  before  common  dangers,  ride  in  the 
charge  of  Balaklava  without  the  quivering  of  a 
nerve,  when  a  bold  leader  peals  his  trumpet  and 
dashes  the  spur  into  his  war-horse. 

Monasteries  have  oftener  been  hiding  -  places  for 
cowardice,  than  sanctuaries  of  piety.  Monkhood 
is  an  attempt  to  get  rid  of  the  stern  battle  of  life. 
The  song  of  triumph  is  a  farce  when  sung  in  a 
cloister,  and  inspired  by  a  hermit's  dream.  Many 
giant  souls  have  bartered  away  their  honor  for 
public  plaudits.  How  many  mighty  ones  have 
yielded  to  misanthropy,  compromise,  despair,  be- 
cause there  was  no  inward  light,  no  inspiring  hope, 
no  prophetic  faith. 

For  want  of  that  splendor  which  no  earthly 
calamity  can  dim,  how  many  hearts  grow  weary  of 
^earnest  work,  how  many  powers  are  perverted,  how 
many  purposes  give  way,  how  many  lives  are 
wrecked !  So  statesmen  change  to  demagogues, 
and  merchants  to  gamblers ;  chairs  of  instruction 
misread  history  to  please  jealous  patrons,  and  pul- 
pits study  to  avoid  the  wrath  of  exacting  pews. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  no  higher  lives  por- 
trayed, or  nobler  deeds  embalmed  in  history  than 
those  animated  by  high  hopefulness  and  serene 
faith.  Darkness  serves  only  to  show  their  latent 
splendor.  Clamors  without  reveal  the  quiet  within. 
Calamities  are  crucibles,  refining  their  spirits. 
Hopes  deferred  develop  patience.  The  scars  of 
battle  -  fields  become  badges  of  honor.  Outward 
losses  buy  inward  wealth.  Every  truth  defended 


32  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

becomes  their  sacred  defense.  Misrepresented,  they 
calmly  pass  their  vindication  over  to  another  cen- 
tury. The  time  of  their  coronation  surely  comes. 

Life  needs  illumination  from  the  steady  shining 
of  a  lustrous,  genial  spirit.  We  are  not  a  sedate 
nor  melancholy  people,  but  the  bright  side  of  life 
seems  to  be  either  mostly  turned  away  from  us,  or 
we  are  in  no  condition  to  see,  enjoy  and  profit  by  it. 
We  strive  hard,  plan  largely  to  be  happy ;  and 
then  spend  our  days  worrying  and  struggling  to 
perfect  the  system  which  is  to  make  us  glad.  And 
yet  the  secret  is  not  hard  to  find.  If  we  will  answer 
each  smile  of  nature  with  a  look  of  love ;  calmly 
study  the  wise,  deep  meaning  of  Providence  when 
clouds  hide  the  sunj  lay  hold  of  calamities  and 
wrestle  with  them  as  Jacob  with  the  angel ;  and 
when  deep  darknesis  is  on  earth,  turn  face  and 
heart  up  toward  the  beatitudes  of  Heaven,  —  there 
can  be  no  night  so  dark  or  long  but  a  bright  morn- 
ing shall  break,  and  the  most  shadowy  picture 
which  portrays  human  life,  will  exhibit  to  our  eye 
something  of  celestial  splendor. 


PUBLIC    OPINION.  383 

V. 
PUBLIC    OPINION. 

One  of  the  marked  changes  which  have  been 
passing  over  our  habits  of  thought  and  methods  of 
speech,  is  indicated  by  the  frequent  use  of  the 
phrase  :  "  The  people." 

When  one  reads  ancient  history,  whether  sacred 
or  secular,  it  is  seen. that  the  patriarch,  the  king, 
the  military  commander,  or  the  philosopher,  or  some 
other  eminent  personage,  concentrates  in  his  person 
and  deeds  a  large  part  of  the  interest  that  gathers 
about  the  era  or  the  land  to  which  he  belongs. 

Abraham  is  a  majestic  figure  on  the  canvas  of 
antiquity ;  but  we  are  left  mostly  to  hints,  guesses 
and  inferences  when  we  would  learn  something  in 
detail  of  the  common  life  which  went  on  around 
him.  Pharaoh  stands  for  an  overshadowing  im- 
perialism in  the  centuries  of  historic  twilight;  but 
the  millions  of  the  common  people  are  silent  in 
their  graves,  and  have  no  one  to  vocalize  the  epics 
they  lived,  or  the  tragedies  in  which  generation 
after  generation  suffered  and  died.  Plutarch's 
Lives  present  a  group  of  representative  men  which 
show  us  many  sides  of  ancient  life  in  artistic  Greece 
and  imperial  Rome;  but  they  afford  us  only  now 
and  then  a  glimpse  of  the  Helots  whose  condition 
forms  a  dark  background  to  the  story,  and  of 
the  plebeians  whose  struggle  for  the  simplest  rights 
was  always  intense  and  not  rarely  fruitless.  We 
have  detailed  records  of  Hannibal's  marches,  and 


384  GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

Caesar's  campaigns,  and  Alexander's  conquests,  but 
of  the  multitudes  who  fell  faint  and  dying  amid 
Alpine  passes,  and  of  the  thousands  who  rendered 
Macedon  a  dreaded  power  beyond  the  Euphrates, 
we  are  told  almost  nothing. 

So  it  has  been  in  a  great  measure  through  later 
ages.  We  know  enough  of  William  the  Norman, 
and  of  Charles  XII.,  and  of  Carlyle's  last  hero,  — 
the  Prussian  Frederick  ;  and  more  than  enough  ot 
Philip  II.  and  of  Louis  Quartorze;  but  we  get  only 
an  occasional  glimpse  of  the  simple  peasant  patient- 
ly winning  his  bread  from  the  acres  which  he  may 
not  own,  and  of  the  significant  politics  and  piety  of 
the  common  household. 

But  all  that  is  changed,  or  is  changing.  The 
dullest  eyes  are  compelled  to  see  the  people,  at 
length,  and  even  a  Bourbon  emperor  must  recognize 
and  consult  them.  Bismarck  must  study  the  temper 
of  the  north  -  German  peoples  before  he  ventures  to 
pit  Prussian  regiments  and  needle-guns  against 
French  battalions  and  chassepots ;  and  even  after 
victory  has  perched  upon  his  standards  at  Sedan 
and  Paris,  he  does  not  count  the  problem  solved  till 
the  German  masses  have  uttered  their  thought,  and 
the  general  sentiment  of  Europe  has  acquiesced  in 
the  verdict  rendered  by  the  thunder  -  voice  of  battle. 
Lord  Derby  began  his  administration  by  suppress- 
ing a  reform  meeting  in  Hyde  Park  ;  he  did  it  eas- 
ily with  the  clubs  of  the  London  police  ;  but  before 
a  year  had  passed,  the  simple  voice  of  English  work- 
ing men,  speaking  through  the  lips  of  John  Bright, 


PUBLIC    OPINION.  385 

extorted  from  that  same  Tory  ministry  a  far  more 
liberal  scheme  of  suffrage  than  that  on  whose  defeat 
Derby  rose  to  the  Premiership. 

When  the  people  have  deliberately  spoken,  the 
king's  edict,  the  statesman's  purpose,  and  the  chief- 
tain's sword  have  found  something  mightier  than 
themselves.  When  they  have  withdrawn  their  in- 
ward loyalty  from  any  sovereign,  he  is  effectually 
discrowned,  though  his  royal  autograph  may  still 
continue  to  be  affixed  to  state  papers,  and  the  gems 
keep  up  their  flashing  in  his  coronet ;  and  a  man 
may  stay  in  the  White  House,  after  the  failure  of 
impeachment,  write  messages  and  dictate  vetoes, 
ventilate  his  passion  and  rehearse  his  political  bio- 
graphy, draw  his  salary  and  dispense  patronage, 
long  after  the  sentiment  of  the  people  has  decided 
that  the  Presidential  office  is  really  vacant. 

The  facts  thus  stated,  indicate  the  need  of  under- 
standing, if  possible,  the  nature  and  office  of  this 
recognized  and  growing  power  in  government  and 
society  which  we  call  public  opinion. 

The  two  extreme  views  which  are  entertained  of 
public  opinion  are  well  expressed  in  the  current 
definitions.  We  are  told  that  it  is  "  the  average  of 
the  prejudices  existing  in  the  community ;  "  again 
it  is  declared  that  "  the  voice  of  the  people  is  the 
voice  of  God."  Public  opinion  is  both  like  and  un- 
like individual  opinion.  It  is  like  individual  opin- 
ion in  that  it  is  partly  a  providential  growth  and 
partly  a  product  of  definite  and  positive  culture.  It 
has  its  lesser  and  its  larger  variations,  its  advances 


386  GEORGE    TIFFANY  DAY. 

and  retreats,  its  seasons  of  special  illumination  and 
its  periods  of  darkness  and  doubt,  its  wavering 
weakness  and  its  calm,  settled  strength. 

There  is  also  to  be  found  the  same  conflict  be- 
tween the  elements  entering  into  public  opinion  that 
appears  in  individual  opinion.  These  elements  may 
be  defined  as  sentiment  and  conviction.  The  senti- 
ment is  sometimes  right  while  the  conviction  is 
wrong ;  and  sometimes  the  feeling  is  quite  astray 
when  the  conviction  stands  by  the  truth.  When 
John  Brown  was  hung  at  Charlestown,  the  authori- 
ties and  the  people  of  Virginia  were  generally  set- 
tled in  the  conclusion  that  the  claim  of  the  gallows 
was  absolute  and  imperative,  and  many  at  the 
North  whose  desire  for  the  slaves'  freedom  was  lit- 
tle less  than  a  revolutionary  passion,  were  ready  to 
say  :  "  We  have  a  law  and  by  our  law  he  ouglit  to 
die,  because  he  made  himself  not  only  a  radical  but 
a  revolutionist,  and  failed ; "  and  so  they  ut- 
tered their  "  Amen"  over  the  sentence  of  the  court. 
But  underneath  this  conviction  was  a  sentiment 
which  could  not  be  wholly  repressed,  and  which 
burst  up  from  the  general  heart  and  canonized  his 
heroism,  even  while  his  body  hung  in  the  air,  and 
sent  half  a  million  of  soldiers  to  finish  the  work 
which  he  began.  The  sentiment  was  mightier  than 
the  conviction, as  it  was  also  truer. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  Capt.  Wilkes  took 
Mason  and  Slidell  from  the  cabin  of  the  Trent  and 
brought  them  back  as  prisoners  of  war,  the  public 
sentiment  not  only  applauded  his  chivalric  audacity 


PUBLIC    OPINION.  387 

and  patriotic  resolution,  but  demanded  that  they  be 
held  and  punished  as  traitors,  whatever  precedent 
might  plead,  and  international  law  require.  That 
was  the  voice  of  sentiment.  But  behind  all  this 
defiance  flung  at  England's  pride,  and  this  taunting 
of  English  neutrality,  there  was  a  general  convic- 
tion that  the  deed  which  gratified  our  sentiment  of 
nationality  could  not  be  justified  before  the  tribunal 
of  precedent  nor  get  the  endorsement  of  national 
honor.  We  gave  up  the  traitors,  that  we  might 
keep  our  integrity  ;  we  put  down  the  impulse  which 
sprang  from  sentiment,  that  we  might  exalt  the 
purpose  which  rested  on  conviction. 

Public  opinion,  especially  when  it  takes  the  form 
of  deliberate  conviction,  is  much  more  likely  to  rep- 
resent the  truth  in  its  idea,  than  is  the  average  indi- 
vidual mind.  Therefore  we  leave  to  a  jury  the 
fashioning  of  a  verdict,  instead  of  confiding  the  case 
to  the  judge  who  may  have  a  better  understanding 
of  law  than  the  twelve  put  together. 

Public  opinion  borrows  power  from  the  emphasis 
with  which  human  voices  speak  when  under  the 
impulse  of  a  common  sympathy.  Individual  con- 
victions are  the  soldiers  of  the  Republic,  springing 
up  as  single  recruits  in  all  the  scattered  hamlets  of 
the  North ;  public  opinion  is  the  army  which  Sher- 
man led  from  Atlanta  to  the  Sea. 

There  is  something  terribly  impressive  in  the 
prompt  and  decisive  way  in  which  public  opinion 
sometimes  metes  out  its  discipline  to  a  great  trans- 
gressor, whom  no  court  could  formally  convict,  and 


388  GEORGE  TIFFANY  DAY. 

no  magistrate  punish,  because  he  could  bribe  the 
judge,  or  defy  the  civil  officer.  Its  feet  are  swift 
like  the  lightning,  when  it  pursues  the  criminal ;  its 
arraignment  as  prompt  as  thought ;  its  discipline 
as  effect  to  follow  cause.  It  arrests  the  liberated 
and  unconvicted  criminal  before  he  can  cross  the 
threshold  into  freedom ;  it  fetters  his  heart  with  ac- 
cusations which  his  will  can  not  break ;  it  writes 
his  crime  on  the  heavens  above  him  by  day,  and 
accuses  him  in  the  midnight  darkness.  Men  may 
affect  to  sneer  at  it  like  Herod,  but  it  will  turn  upon 
them  as  upon  him,  with  a  tireless  persistence,  till  it 
has  worn  them  into  agony,  or  tortured  them  into 
the  grave.  The  imperial  Neros  of  society  may  war 
upon  it  with  terrific  and  savage  violence,  but  it  will 
only  fill  their  ears  with  maledictions,  and  give  their 
names  to  infamy.  A  Borgia  may  seek  shelter  from 
its  fearful  discipline  beneath  the  mantle  of  the  Pope- 
dom,  but  it  drags  her  vices  from  behind  the  great  al- 
tar of  the  Church,  and  holds  them  up  as  a  warning. 
A  shrewd  ambition  may  delay  its  verdict  by  beauti- 
fying a  European  capital  and  tickling  the  vanity  of 
a  pleasure  -  loving  people;  but  the  judgment  will 
take  shape  soon  and  surely,  and  history  is  waiting 
to  record  the  sentence  over  the  Mephistophiles  of 
the  ipth  century.  A  rebellion  may  assume  such 
gigantic  proportions,  and  display  such  a  sublime 
audacity,  as  for  a  time  to  win  a  species  of  toleration 
and  applause ;  but,  because  public  opinion  is  to  try 
it  and  assign  it  its  place,  there  is  nothing  in  human 
effort,  or  skill,  or  prejudice  that  can  save  it  from  be- 


PUBLIC    OPINION.  389 

ing  cursed  forever, —  as  the  supreme  blunder  of 
statesmanship  and  the  concentrated  crime  of  civil 
history. 

Still  more  gratifying  and  not  less  majestic  does 
it  appear  when  it  sets  itself  to  vindicate  the  integ- 
rity which  is  suspected  and  condemned,  or  to  lift 
up  virtue  crushed  beneath  the  heel  of  power.  It 
not  only  disciplines  offenders  who  slip  through  the 
meshes  of  the  law,  but  it  exalts  to  honor  the  victims 
of  an  unjust  sentence.  It  refutes  the  perjured  testi- 
mony of  the  witness ;  it  neutralizes  the  advocate's 
special  pleading,  and  reverses  the  sentence  of  the 
most  eminent  judge. 

The  cares  and  anxieties  that  were  plowing 
deep  furrows  upon  the  face  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
were  made  far  more  tolerable  by  the  sublimest  of 
all  the  great  deeds  which  marked  the  years  of  strife. 
That  deed  performed  by  the  freemen  of  the  Repub- 
lic at  the  ballot  -  box,  November,  1864,  told  him 
that  his  patriotism  was  understood,  his  statesman- 
ship appreciated  and  his  purposes  approved ;  and 
many  a  soldier  to  whom  home  was  sacred  and  life 
unspeakably  sweet,  laid  down  and  died  with  a  smile 
when  he  knew  that  the  best  part  of  the  nation  was 
blessing  him  for  his  devotion  and  weeping  over  his 
sacrifice. 

There  is  a  lower  and  a  pitiable  side  to  this  great 
force ;  for  nothing  which  springs  from  human  nat- 
ure is  wholly  majestic.  So  long  as  the  people  are 
imperfectly  taught  and  are  uncured  of  their  way- 
wardness, public  opinion  will  go  astray,  and  its  ver- 


39°  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

diets  and  discipline  sometimes  lack  both  justice  and 
self-  consistency,  and  be  at  times  both  fickle  and 
unreasonable.  Its  hosanna  may  be  still  pulsating 
in  the  air  when  the  cry  :  "  Crucify  him  !  "  comes  to 
drown  it  in  the  flood  of  angry  contempt.  It  names 
Aristides  "  the  just,"  and  then  sends  him  into  exile. 
It  kills  Socrates  with  a  draught  of  hemlock,  and 
then  pronounces  him  a  saint,  and  hastens  to  line  the 
streets  of  Athens  with  his  statues  and  monuments. 
It  banishes  the  Bourbons  with  a  revolution,  and 
then  revenges  itself  by  worshiping  an  ambitious 
despot  and  dictator  under  the  names  of  first  consul 
and  of  emperor.  The  public  opinion  of  Boston 
opens  its  lips  at  Bunker  Hill  to  glorify  Jefferson  for 
writing  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  to 
apotheosize  Adams  for  defending  and  justifying  it ; 
and  then  it  mobs  Garrison  for  preaching  its  doc- 
trines and  applying  its  principles.  When  secession 
hurls  its  first  bomb  at  Sumter,  New  York  springs  to 
its  feet  a  patriotic  city,  and  even  the  offices  of  the 
Herald  and  the  Express  blossom  with  Union  bunt- 
ing ;  but  when  Lee  invades  Pennsylvania,  and  is 
hurled  back  from  Gettysburg  with  a  force  that  set- 
tles the  fate  of  the  Confederacy,  the  metropolis  is 
more  than  half  a  scene  of  lamentation,  and  the  eyes 
of  the  Five  Points  are  red  with  weeping  and  rum. 
Call  this  fickleness  the  superficial  sentiment  of  the 
people  if  you  will,  and  explain  these  false  and  vehe- 
ment verdicts  by  saying  that  they  are  not  rooted  in 
calm  conviction,  very  true,  doubtless,  but  what 
must  be  said  of  a  tribunal  which  speaks  so  'Often  out 


PUBLIC   OPINION.  391 

of  its  varying  and  thoughtless  impulses,  and  ex- 
cludes both  reason  and  right  from  its  demands  and 
its  discipline?  And  so  long  as  public  opinion 
wheels  about  like  a  weather  -  vane  in  March,  it  is 
hardly  safe  to  use  it  as  a  compass  ;  and  while  it  al- 
lows itself  to  storm  out  its  molten  passion  or  pour 
forth  its  extravagant  panegyric  when  it  ought  to  be 
weighing  testimony  and  framing  a  deliberate  ver- 
dict, it  can  hardly  expect  to  be  treated  with  excess- 
ive reverence  or  counted  an  inspired  prophet. 

Public  opinion  is  not  absolutely  the  creator  of 
positive  law ;  the  statute  -  book  is  more  or  less  the 
teacher  of  the  people.  Law  itself  comes  into  soci- 
ety more  or  less  as  a  school  -  master.  Many  men 
venerate,  in  some  sense,  a  principle  wearing  the 
robe  of  the  Law,  who  would  curse  it  if  it  stood 
forth  unclothed.  It  is  not  at  all  that  their  modesty 
is  shocked  by  the  nakedness,  but  that  their  respect 
is  awakened  by  the  garment.  Just  laws  not  only 
spring  from  and  guage  public  integrity,  but  they 
promote  it ;  good  laws  not  only  imply  virtue,  but 
induce  it ;  beneficent  laws  not  only  elevate  noble 
aims,  but  call  them  forth ;  while  laws  that  wink  at 
iniquity  breed  wickedness  ;  laws  that  are  oppressive 
develop  tyranny ;  laws  in  the  interest  of  a  class  are 
the  seed  of  monopolies  and  aristocracies  ;  and  laws 
that  make  a  mock  of  justice  invite  anarchy,  and  in- 
augurate revolutions.  Hence  the  reason  for  put- 
ting the  best  sentiment  and  conviction  of  the  com- 
munity into  law,  and  keeping  them  there.  It  is  not 
just  the  thing  to  ask  grog  -  shops  whether  they  pre- 


392  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

fer  prohibition  or  license  ;  nor  to   solicit   a  revenue 
bill  from  smugglers. 

That  terror  of  what  passes  for  public  opinion  is 
perhaps  more  pitiable,  though  it  may  not  be  more 
foolish,  than  the  opposite  extreme  met  in  the  case 
of  those  who  take  pains  to  defy  and  disgust  the 
community  by  their  rejection  of  what  is  currently 
accepted,  because  it  is  accepted,  and  who  count  it  a 
mark  of  merit  to  deny  what  the  general  voice  as- 
serts, and  oppose  what  is  contemplated  by  the  pub- 
lic will ;  presuming  that  when  they  are  voted 
down  they  are  persecuted ;  criticising  public  senti- 
ment and  calling  themselves  reformers  ;  provoking 
opposition  and  setting  themselves  down  as  martyrs. 
They  forget  that  though  public  opinion  may  not  al- 
ways recognize  the  reformer,  it  generally  discerns 
the  cynic ;  though  it  may  not  hail  the  true  hero  on 
his  first  appearance,  it  seldom  mistakes  the  mounte- 
bank whatever  his  disguises ;  and  though  it  may 
not  always  be  ready  to  welcome  the  real  prophet,  it 
is  apt  to  hiss  a  mere  jester,  whether  he  figures  in 
comedy  or  tragedy. 

Because  public  opinion  has  not  pronounced  upon 
any  question,  there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  set 
that  question  down  as  unimportant  or  incapable  of 
solution.  The  individual  thinks  earlier  than  the. 
multitude.  There  is  truth  which  demands  our  pa- 
tient regard  that  has  never  yet  been  contended  over 
in  any  deliberative  assembly  ;  there  are  duties  sacred 
as  a  claim  of  Heaven,  that  have  never  yet  been  de- 
fined by  civil  statute;  there  are  continents  of 


PUBLIC  OPINION.  393 

thought  which  it  is  one  of  the  highest  privileges  of 
God's  chosen  ones  to  explore. 

Because  public  opinion  has  been  occupied  with  a 
given  matter,  and  pronounced  upon  it,  is  not  a  suffi- 
cient reason  for  accepting  the  verdict  without  ques- 
tion or  reflection,  as  though  the  responsibility  of 
thought  were  thereby  removed.  A  vote  of  the  ma- 
jority is  not  a  moral  finality,  especially  when,  as 
has  often  been  the  case,  it  strikes  against  the  pri- 
vate citizen's  conviction,  offends  his  conscience,  and 
contravenes  eternal  justice. 

The  relation  of  public  opinion  to  positive  statute 
is  twofold.  It  largely  supplies  the  material  out  of 
which  specific  laws  are  formed,  and  it  mostly  deter- 
mines the  mission  and  the  fate  of  enactments. 
Sometimes,  owing  to  local  and  temporary  influences, 
the  formal  law  may  be  in  advance  of  the  popular 
will,  even  in  a  republican  state  ;  and  sometimes  leg- 
islation may  lag  far  behind  the  average  conscience 
of  the  community.  But,  in  the  long  run,  the  stat- 
ute -  book  is  a  pretty  accurate  exponent  of  the  mor- 
al sentiment  and  the  executive  will  of  the  people 
who  express  their  sovereignty  through  their  laws. 
Educate  public  opinion  to  the  point  where  it  de- 
mands new  protection  for  any  right  or  interest,  or  a 
sterner  discipline  for  any  class  of  wrong  doers,  and 
it  will  speedily  crystallize  into  a  defensive  statute, 
as  the  lava  from  Vesuvius  hardens  into  walls  of 
rock,  and  it  will  scorch  the  flourishing  transgression 
as  the  molten  stream  annihilates  the  vegetation  which 
was  thriving  but  yesterday  upon  its  sunny  slope. 


394  GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

The  deliberate  verdict  of  public  opinion  entitles 
it  to  respect.  If  it  is  opposed  to  our  individual 
opinion,  it  suggests  a  reason  for  careful  review,  but 
not  for  unthinking  acquiescence.  It  gives  rise  to  a 
proper  doubt  whether  we  may  not  be  wrong ;  it  for- 
bids haste  in  accusing  the  general  thought  of  folly 
and  the  general  purpose  of  recklessness. 

It  is  important  to  discriminate  between  that  phase 
of  public  opinion  which  exhibits  a  mere  transient 
sentiment,  and  that  more  deliberate  conviction.  The 
surface  of  the  popular  mind  may  not  indicate  the 
real  thought  in  the  calm  depths  below.  Arctic  ex- 
plorers tell  us  that  it  is  not  uncommon  to  see  an 
enormous  iceberg,  with  vast  domes,  and  uncounted 
turrets  and  pinnacles,  springing  from  a  body  of 
dazzling  whiteness,  as  though  it  were  a  cathedral  of 
marble  and  crystal  set  in  the  sea ;  and  that  while 
the  waves  and  all  the  lesser  bergs  hurry  north- 
ward like  a  fleet  running  before  the  gale,  that  grand 
pile  moves  steadily  southward  to  meet  the  advanc- 
ing summer.  Far  beneath  the  surface  there  is  a 
counter  -  current,  steady  like  God's  purpose,  and 
strong  like  his  omnipotence,  flowing  on  toward  the 
equator ;  and  taking  hold  of  the  mighty  mass  that 
extends  down  into  the  deep  sea,  bears  it  on  with  ir- 
resistible might.  The  furious  tempest  driving  north- 
ward is  the  transient  and  erring  sentiment  of  the 
public  mind ;  the  calm,  mighty  under  -  current, 
making  its  way  to  the  tropics,  is  the  steady  and  re- 
liable conviction  of  that  public  mind. 

Sometimes  there   is  nothing  for  a  true  man,  in 


PUBLIC  OPINION.  395 

dealing  with  public  sentiment,  but  to  resist  its  de- 
mands and  risk  the  seemingly  unequal  combat.  He 
has  read  history  and  studied  life  to  little  advantage, 
who  does  not  know  that  the  minority  is  often  right, 
and  that  the  truth  is  left,  now  and  then,  with  a 
single  open  defender  against  the  multitude  who 
have  rallied  for  the  enthronement  of  a  lie.  Henry 
Clay  never  uttered  a  finer  sentence  than  when  he 
said,  in  response  to  a  warning  that  his  course  was 
blocking  up  his  path  to  the  White  House :  "  I 
would  rather  be  right  than  be  President." 

The  grandest  passages  in  the  world's  story  are 
those  which  tell  of  privileged  souls  whom  God  has 
taken  to  the  top  of  some  Sinai,  or  Pisgah,  or  Tabor, 
that  he  might  show  them  unutterable  things  and  un- 
veil to  them  the  face  of  truth. 

Who  forgets  Themistocles,  answering  the  blow  of 
popular  violence  with :  "  Strike,  but  hear ;"  or 
Savonarola  responding  to  the  offer  of  a  cardinal's 
hat :  "  I  wish  no  red  hat  but  one  reddened  with  my 
own  blood,  for  this  is  the  one  God  now  gives  to  his 
saints;"  or  Tycho  Brahe's  majestic  reply  to  the 
skepticism  which  greeted  his  treatise  on  Astronomy  : 
"  I  can  afford  to  wait  a  hundred  years  for  a  be- 
liever, since  God  has  waited  six  thousand  years  for 
an  observer ;"  or  Luther's  response  to  the  scowling 
Diet :  "  Here  I  stand.  I  can  not  do  otherwise  ;  God 
help  me." 

There  is  but  one  more  thing  to  be  said  respecting 
the  method  in  which  the  individual  is  to  deal  with 
public  opinion.  His  great  business  is  to  rectify,  ex- 


396  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

alt  and  strengthen  it.  It  is  not  enough  to  endorse 
it  when  it  is  right,  nor  to  stand  out  against  it  when 
it  is  wrong,  nor  to  appeal  from  its  undeserved  con- 
demnation to  eternal  justice.  Recognizing  its  grow- 
ing power  for  good  or  evil,  every  man  should  seek 
to  make  a  positive  contribution  to  its  vigor  and  its 
character.  It  needs  the  scholar's  knowledge,  the 
Christian's  conscience,  the  philanthropist's  heart,  the 
reformer's  zeal,  the  saint's  believing  patience,  the 
poet's  vision  and  the  orator's  tongue. 

The  wondrous  and  impressive  music  which  one 
hears  in  the  European  cathedrals,  known  as  the 
mass,  which  embodies  the  phases  and  voices  the  ex- 
periences of  a  devout  soul  standing  face  to  face  with 
God  and  eternity  ;[now  penitent  and  jubilant ;  at  one 
moment  crying  faintly  from  the  depths  of  grief  and 
shame  and  fear  as  though  it  felt  at  the  same  instant 
the  terror  of  a  child  lost  in  the  forest  at  night  and 
the  desperation  of  Peter  sinking  amid  the  waves  of 
Gennesaret ;  then  rising  in  the  gladness  of  a  great 
hope  newly -born,  and  a  swelling  adoration  that 
hardly  knows  whether  to  bend  and  worship  or  soar 
and  sing ;  this  wondrous  Romish  mass  is  made  up 
of  fragments  of  ballads  sung  by  peasant  girls,  and 
national  airs  that  have  beguiled  the  march  or  cheer- 
ed the  bivouac,  and  pastoral  songs  chanted  on  the 
hill  -  side,  and  cradle  lullabies  rising  in  the  homes  of 
the  lowly,  and  threnodies  that  ascended  from  the 
chambers  of  sickness,  and  hallelujahs  that  trembled 
on  the  lips  of  saints  who  went  to  immortality  from 
the  dungeon  and  the  scaffold ;  from  all  these  musi- 


PUBLIC  OPINION.  397 

cal  dialects  in  which  human  life  has  sung  its  vary- 
ing emotion  into  the  air  of  centuries,  it  has  gather- 
ed some  item  of  its  power  and  glory.  So  public 
opinion  has  been,  and  still  is,  and  yet  more  and 
more  shall  be,  the  compound  thought  and  the 
many  threaded  tone  into  which  individual,  ideas  and 
utterances  combine  with  unity  and  emphasis. 

What  we  give  is  determined  by  what  we  are. 
The  mountaineer  had  no  thought  that  the  notes  he 
was  singing  as  he  sat  on  his  Alpine  cliff  would 
one  day  throb,  a  mighty  pulse  of  harmony, 
through  the  aisles  and  amid  the  arches  of  St.  Peter's  ; 
but,  though  he  only  swelled  his  strain  for  his  own 
delight,  it  was  caught  up  and  poured  into* the  ear  of 
Christendom,  as  the  voice  of  a  great  hierarchy  call- 
ing the  nations  to  its  altars. 

We  recognize  readily  enough  the  influence  of  a 
few  great  names  on  the  public  opinion  of  to  -  day. 
We  know  that  the  statutes  of  Moses,  and  the  juris- 
prudence of  the  Roman  statesman,  and  the  feudal- 
ism of  Europe,  and  Magna  Charta  wrested  by  the 
English  barons  from  king  John,  have  all  had  their 
influence  in  fashioning  the  civil  legislation  of  our 
own  land.  We  do  not  find  it  hard  to  believe  that 
Homer's  music  modified  the  accent  with  which  we 
speak  our  fancies ;  that  we  are  prompted  to  think  in 
one  way  rather  than  another  by  Plato's  metaphysics 
and  Aristotle's  logic ;  that  Cicero's  orations  affect  our 
public  speech ;  that  an  analytical  ear  would  detect 
the  tones  of  Horace  and  Dante  in  our  singing ;  we 
know  that  the  voices  of  Constantine  and  Charle- 


GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

magne  still  inspire  the  projects  which  are  framed  at 
the  Vatican  ;  that  the  ideals  of  Angelo  to  -  day  are 
blossoming  in  our  architecture,  and  the  divine 
beauty  which  Raphael  put  into  the  face  of  his  trans- 
figured Christ  struggles  for  expression  in  every 
modern  painter's  studio.  Calvin  is  yet  teaching  us 
theology ;  Cromwell's  Puritanism  walks  yet  with 
reverent  feet  in  the  stillness  of  New  England  Sab- 
baths ;  Milton's  plea  for  liberty  and  a  free  press 
bears  fruit  in  our  polyglot  literature  which  has 
helped  to  smite  our  dark  despotism  into  powder; 
and  the  Norman  baron's  egotistic  obstinacy  is  to  - 
day  contending  against  equal  rights  in  Richmond. 
We  can  believe  all  that  without  difficulty. 

But  it  is  equally  true  that  the  lives  which  are  liv- 
ed in  humbler  spheres,  and  on  lower  social  planes, 
and  the  voices  that  fail  to  get  distinct  attention,  still 
have  their  influence  in  fashioning  public  opinion 
and  giving  emphasis  to  its  utterance.  The  young 
mechanic  who  puts  down  the  temptation  to  which 
his  genteelly  dressed  acquaintances  have  yielded,  to 
turn  fashionable  swindler ;  the  merchant  who  sells 
goods,  but  will  not  bargain  away  his  integrity  ;  the 
mother  who  rules  her  little  domestic  empire  as 
Christ's  vicegerent,  and  serves  gladly  as  priestess  in 
the  temple  of  home ;  the  faithful  teacher,  opening 
daily  the  doors  into  the  halls  of  knowledge ;  the  in- 
valid in  her  chamber,  interpreting  trust  and  patience 
in  the  smile  that  hides  her  pain ;  the  white  -  haired 
man,  whose  years  of  fidelity  to  his  trusts  rest  on 
him  like  a  benediction,  and  whose  Christian  hope 


CRUSADES  AND  CRUSADERS.         399 

makes  the  brightness  of  the  other  world  mingle 
with  the  shadows  of  this ;  —  all  these  are  so  many 
sources  out  of  which  the  elements  shall  come  that 
pass  into  the  public  opinion  of  the  future.  The 
feeblest  tone  in  which  any  true  soul,  however 
humble,  may  speak,  will  surely  enter  into  and  af- 
fect that  majestic  and  imperial  voice  with  which  the 
united  convictions  of  the  people  shall  one  day  utter 
themselves,  when  public  opinion  has  become  the 
mightiest  earthly  law  -  giver,  and  its  word  of  bless- 
ing or  of  blight  comes  sounding  down  from  the 
Gerizim  or  the  Ebal  of  the  future,  as  the  infinite 
justice  of  God  framed  into  the  common  speech  of 
men. 


VI. 

CRUSADES    AND    CRUSADERS. 

There  are  certain  great  epochs  and  movements  in 
history  that  stand  for  almost  everything  important 
in  the  record  of  the  human  race.  However  great 
and  frequent  may  be  the  changes  about  us,  it  is  still 
true  that :  "  History  is  forever  repeating  itself,"  or 
as  another,  long  before,  put  it :  "There  is  nothing 
new  under  the  sun." 

We  find  that  that  movement  in  Europe  during  the 
middle  ages,  known  as  the  Crusades,  in  its  under- 


4OO  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

lying  ideas  and  principles,  keeps  on  through  centu- 
ries, and  is  felt  to  -  day  in  the  life  of  America  ;  and 
that  the  spirit  which  impelled  those  old  actors  lives 
and  works  in  the  stern,  stirring  souls  about  us, 
whose  words,  like  Luther's,  are  "  half -battles,"  and 
whose  deeds  are  making  history. 

Let  us  go  back  to  the  latter  part  of  the  eleventh 
century.  The  kings,  not  caring  just  then  to  fight, 
are  plotting  in  their  palaces ;  the  princes  are  nurs- 
ing their  ambition ;  nobles  and  barons  quarrel  with 
each  other  for  more  territory,  and  plunder  and  cheat 
their  vassals ;  the  Pope  carries  himself  with  a  lordly 
air ;  the  priests  here  fawn  and  there  tyrannize  ;  the 
monasteries  keep  some  learning,  but  more  vices ; 
dead  ecclesiastics  seem  fast  changing  to  saints, 
while  the  living  tell  a  truth  too  obvious  to  be  ques- 
tioned when  they  call  themselves  "  miserable  sin- 
ners ;"  the  great  mass  of  the  people  are  poor,  ignor- 
ant, superstitious,  with  weak  consciences  and  fiery 
passions,  whose  hopes  for  this  world  are  as  small  as 
their  hopes  for  the  other  are  extravagant.  There  is 
no  general  war ;  the  popular  fury  gathers  strength, 
and  is  ready  to  flame  out  and  smite  wherever  a  skill- 
ful hand  shall  come  to  stir  and  direct  it.  There  is  a 
pause  as  if  the  world  were  waiting  for  something ; 
and  it  comes.  The  day  of  the  Crusades  dawns, 
whose  history  becomes  marked  by  wild  fanaticism, 
frightful  loss  of  human  life,  deeds  of  romance  and 
valor ;  —  fraught  with  great  political  and  moral 
changes. 

Peter   the  Hermit,  after  inflaming  the  zeal  of  the 


CRUSADES   AND    CRUSADERS.  40! 

nobles  and  the  people  by  preaching  a  crusade 
against  the  Mohammedans  who  had  possessed  them- 
selves of  Jerusalem,  not  waiting  for  thorough 
organization,  set  out  at  the  head  of  a  vast  rabble  of 
fanatics.  A  great  pyramid  of  human  bones,  near 
the  city  of  Nice,  in  Asia  Minor,  was  the  chief 
monument  left  to  tell  their  disastrous  story. 

The  real  crusaders  departed  from  Europe  a  year 
later.  They  represented  considerable  intelligence, 
strength,  valor  and  discipline.  No  king  joined 
them  in  person.  The  German  emperor  was 
not  disposed  to  do  it ;  Philip  I.  of  France,  like  most 
of  his  successors,  was  busy  with  his  pleasures;. 
William  Rufus  of  England  was  gathering  the  spoils 
of  a  recent  conflict ;  the  kings  of  Spain  had  their 
hands  full  of  domestic  strifes ;  the  monarchs  of 
Northern  Europe  had  not  felt  the  fire  and  passion  of 
the  South.  But  the  expedition  was  headed  by  sev- 
eral eminent  feudal  princes.  There  was  Godfrey  of 
Bouillon,  a  lineal  descendant  of  Charlemagne,  famil- 
iar with  war,  bold,  chivalric,  high  -  toned,  prudent, 
and  moderate ;  with  a  piety  deep  and  sincere  even 
if  it  was  sometimes  half  blind ;  who  practiced  a 
convert's  virtues  even  in  the  soldier's  camp.  He 
was  a  man  who  kept  the  confidence  of  his  jealous 
associates  and  even  the  esteem  of  his  enemies. 
There  was  Robert  of  Normandy,  son  of  William 
the  Conqueror,  sometimes  frivolous  and  self-indul- 
gent, but  a  man  born  to  command  and  a  hero  in  bat- 
tle ;  and  Raymond,  Count  of  Toulouse,  a  veteran 
warrior,  and  who  knew  how  to  mould  a  mob  into  an 


4O2  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

army;  and  Bohemond,  a  Norman  prince,  cool,  pol- 
itic, whose  passion  only  made  his  judgment  more 
quick  and  sure,  at  once  a  shrewd  diplomatist  and  a 
thorough  master  of  strategy.  These  were  captains 
worthy  of  the  name,  and  they  had  subordinates 
whose  alliance  brought  power. 

The  forces  led  by  these  princes  numbered  600,- 
<ooo  foot,  100,000  well  mounted  troops,  besides  a 
great  multitude  of  priests,  monks,  women,  children 
and  marauders.  Many  of  these  fell  away  before 
passing  the  limits  of  their  own  country ;  a  great 
host  left  their  bones  bleaching  all  the  way  to  Jeru- 
salem. "  Europe  was  loosened  from  its  foundations 
.and  hurled  against  Asia."  Only  a  handful  came 
back  to  their  homes.  We  can  not  here  follow  their 
painful  story  of  hardships  in  famine  and  sieges, 
of  losses  in  battle,  till  they  captured  the  Holy  City 
in  1099. 

When  Edessa  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks, 
in  1145,  a  second  crusade  was  preached  by  the 
famous  St.  Bernard.  But  the  great  armies  that 
were  gathered  and  led  by  royal  captains  were 
broken,  weakened,  scattered,  repelled;  and  disap- 
peared at  length  like  a  wave  spent  on  the  sloping 
beach. 

Then  the  great  Saladin  arose  in  the  East,  and  at 
length  gave  Jerusalem  back  to  its  former  masters ; 
the  great  church  of  Omar  was  consecrated  a 
mosque,  and  the  crescent  supplanted  the  cross. 

The  fall  of  Jerusalem  gave  rise  to  the  third  cru- 
sade. This,  and  the  five  crusades  which  followed 


CRUSADES  AND  CRUSADERS.         403 

it,  at  longer  or  shorter  intervals,  ended  in  disaster 
and  defeat ;  and  before  the  I3th  century  closed,  this 
strange  and  significant  movement  in  history  had 
ended.  In  the  meanwhile,  and  in  the  I3th  century, 
occurred  that  strangely  pathetic  episode, —  the 
children's  crusade,  in  which  40,000  children,  of 
both  sexes,  miserably  perished, —  some  in  slavery, 
others  by  famine  or  by  violence,  while  many  met 
even  a  more  terrible  fate. 

What  valuable  ends  did  the  Crusades  secure? 
All  such  movements  have  a  deep  meaning  and 
teach  needed  lessons.  Through  the  motley  and 
tangled  web  of  human  plans  and  policies  there  ever 
runs  a  divine  purpose  gleaming  like  a  thread  of  gold, 
so  that  the  wrath  of  man  is  made  to  syllable  God's 
praise.  And  these  crusades  served  hitman  welfare. 
—  More  or  less  sensual  souls  were  lifted  and  inspired 
by  a  great  and  sacred  idea,  and  were  ennobled  by 
it. —  The  isolated  peoples  of  Europe  were  brought  in- 
to closer  and  more  vital  relations. —  The  eastern  and 
western  nations  stood  face  to  face  ;  and,  as  is  usually 
the  case,  acquaintance  melted  away  prejudice,  and 
Moslem  and  Christian  came  to  think  of  each  other 
less  as  monsters  and  reprobates.  The  two  civiliza- 
tions, the  Greek  and  Saracenic,  furnished  the  Euro- 
peans new  ideas  which  they  found  worthy  to  be 
wrought  into  their  own  institutions.  Especially 
did  European  commerce  thus  receive  the  strongest 
impulse  that  had  yet  come  to  it.  The  old  Greek  lit- 
erature and  art  were  laid  open  to  the  inspection  of 
European  observers,  and  became  active  and  strong 


404  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

elements  in  the  later  culture.  The  policy,  the 
power  and  the  spirit  of  the  papal  court  were  also 
brought  to  public  notice,  so  that  it  could  afterward 
be  judged  and  dealt  with  in  an  intelligent  way.  If 
Jerusalem  still  lay  in  shadow,  Rome  was  unveiled. 
And  so  the  fruitless  struggle  to  sanctify  the  sacred 
sepulchre  was  a  long  step  toward  the  great  Reforma- 
tion in  the  very  lands  whence  the  crusades  sprang. 

The  crusading  spirit  is  not  a  thing  of  one  period 
or  people.  In  its  essential  quality,  though  ever 
changing  its  forms,  it  runs  through  the  ages  and 
visits  all  lands.  It  appears  in  the  ipth  century  as 
well  as  in  the  i2th,  and  it  finds  a  theatre  in  the  new 
world  as  well  as  in  the  old.  The  traveler  of  to - 
day,  who  visits  Jerusalem  at  the  time  of  the  great 
church  festivals,  finds  much  to  remind  him  of  the  old 
life  we  have  been  describing.  The  Church  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  is  still  a  shrine,  and  at  the  time  of 
Easter,  there  are  usually  as  many  pilgrims  in  and 
about  Jerusalem  as  citizens, —  that  is,  20,000.  Be- 
neath that  one  roof,  and  separated  only  by  open 
colonnades  or  slight  railings,  the  Greek,  the  Latin, 
the  Armenian  and  the  Coptic  churches  have  their 
chapels  and  holy  places  and  shrines ;  and  every 
land  where  any  form  of  the  Christian  faith  has  a 
foothold,  sends  up  its  quota  of  pilgrims,  whose  great 
life  -  longing  has  been  to  visit  this  holy  place  once 
before  death,  perform  their  vow,  atone  for  their 
sins,  get  a  quickening  for  the  sluggish  soul,  and 
vivify  the  hope  of  heaven.  It  is  a  strange,  suggest- 
ive, and  often  a  touching  sight  to  see  them  come  in, 


CRUSADES  AND  CRUSADERS.         405 

even  singly  and  alone ;  but  far  more  so  to  stand  by 
the  way -side  and  let  the  strange  procession  file  by. 
Some  move  on  with  bowed  heads,  and  faces  worn 
into  furrows  by  the  long  -  lived  griefs  they  now 
hope  to  cure ;  others  proceed  with  a  calm  and 
thoughtful  silence,  as  if  awed  by  the  sanctities  to 
which  they  are  drawing  near ;  there  is  a  young  and 
gleeful  girl  gazing  with  eager  eye  as  though  she 
saw  the  gates  which  opened  into  a  long  holiday  for 
body  and  spirit ;  and  here  is  a  pilgrim  full  of  the 
spasmodic  energy  and  restless  fire  which  proclaim 
the  enthusiast,  whose  experience  is  a  series  of  vol- 
canic eruptions,  and  whose  life  is  ready  to  be  mar- 
ried to  any  wild  undertaking,  whether  it  calls  for  de- 
voutness  or  despotism.  They  are  all  crowding  to 
the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  into  which  they 
long  to  look  as  a  means  of  scattering  the  shadows 
from  their  own  inevitable  graves.  What  thoughts 
they  awaken  by  their  aspect,  and  what  sermons 
they  preach  through  their  silence  !  And, —  though 
one  is  sorry  to  tell  it, —  I  was  present  at  the  church 
on  the  Sunday  morning  when  the  Latin  Christians 
were  celebrating  Easter,  while  the  Greeks,  only  a 
few  feet  away,  keeping  a  different  chronology, 
were  going  through  the  services  of  Palm  Sunday ; 
and  it  did  seem  as  though  the  fervor  and  sonorous- 
ness of  both  parties  were  greatly  increased  by  the 
mutual  hatreds  felt  and  the  determination  of  each 
to  drown  out  the  chantings  and  prayers  of  the  other. 
The  faces  certainly  had  more  scowls  than  sanctity. 
And  it  is  not  a  very  unfrequent  thing  that  the  rival 


406  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

Christian  sects  come  to  disputes  and  violent  blows 
in  the  church  itself,  especially  in  connection  with 
the  drama  of  the  crucifixion,  so  that  the  Mohamme- 
dan guard  must  needs  keep  the  combatants  apart 
with  their  swords,  to  prevent  bloodshed  and  possible 
murder.  One  finds  thus  that  the  old  spirit  underly- 
ing the  crusades  yet  lives  ;  and  recalls  the  story  of 
the  little  girl,  who,  disturbed  in  her  evening  prayer 
by  her  mischievous  brother  tickling  her  neck  with  a 
feather,  suddenly  improvised  the  petition:  "O 
Lord,  excuse  me  just  a  minute,  while  I  kick  Fred." 

Crusades  in  this  century  have  special  features. 
We  plan  and  execute  in  haste.  We  force  ideas  to 
maturity.  Among  peoples  that  harness  steam  to 
their  carriages  and  use  the  lightning  to  talk  with ; 
in  an  age  when  Prussia  throttles  Austria  in  six 
weeks,  and  crushes  the  military  power  of  France  in 
half  a  year,  crusades  are  sure  to  be  intense  and  are 
likely  to  be  brief.  Neither  America  nor  Europe 
would  work  two  hundred  years  over  the  problem  of 
gaining  or  keeping  a  small  city,  even  if  it  held  a 
gold  mine  instead  of  a  grave. 

But  our  crusades  are  real  things.  They  too 
have  various  elements, —  the  sublime,  and  ludi- 
crous, and  pathetic.  They  are  natural  products  of 
human  nature  and  life.  They  are  often  agencies  in 
the  hand  of  Providence  to  do  real  and  needful 
work.  Men  need  at  times  to  act  in  masses,  in- 
spired by  a  common  thought  and  purpose.  You 
say,  perhaps,  that  silent  forces  which  come  like 
morning  through  the  gates  of  the  East  to  unveil  ere- 


CRUSADES    AND    CRUSADERS.  407 

ation,  or  like  summer  from  the  South  to  change 
barrenness  into  beauty,  and  that  single  characters 
and  lives  that  carry  with  them  the  atmosphere  of 
heaven,  do  the  best  work  of  the  world.  Yes,  very 
likely.  But  the  tempest  and  the  inundation  have 
their  part  to  play  when  miasma  and  drouth  are  suf- 
fered, as  well  as  the  cooling  breeze  and  the  summer 
dew.  If  God's  word  is  chiefly  heard  in  the  still, 
small  voice,  the  earthquake  and  the  fire  are  often 
needed  to  awe  us  into  silence  and  get  us  ready  to 
listen.  You  can  undermine  or  honeycomb  or  wear 
out  by  patience  some  evils ;  you  can  dissolve  others 
in  charity  as  the  gulf  stream  melts  down  the  ice- 
bergs it  can  not  keep  back  in  the  arctic  seas.  But 
there  are  others  that  must  be  stormed  by  an  army  of 
heroes,  or  beaten  into  pieces  as  Niagara  shatters 
the  ice  -  fields  from  the  lake  into  minute  crystals  or 
sheets  of  foam. 

It  would  be  pleasant  and  profitable  to  follow  the 
course  of  the  crusade  of  science  against  supersti- 
tion ;  of  labor  against  capital  and  monopolies ;  of 
the  public  school  against  popular  ignorance;  of 
philanthropy  against  the  brutalities  of  penal  laws 
and  prison  discipline  ;  of  conscience  and  the  humane 
instinct  against  the  liquor  traffic ;  of  enlightened  states- 
manship against  the  barbarism  of  war;  of  Christian 
faith  against  the  idolatrous  heathenism  of  every 
land.  These  are  great  undertakings ;  there  are 
strong  reasons  behind  them ;  they  are  animated  by 
high  purposes .;  they  have  their  excesses  as  well  as 
their  considerate  movements  ;  and  each  can  present 


408  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

a  list  of  leaders  that  embody  the  sublime  strength  or 
the  pitiable  weaknesses  which  set  forth  human  nature, 
and  which  sometimes  antagonize  in  the  single  soul. 
Science  is  not  something  to  be  sneered  at  or  to  be 
dreaded.  Its  work  is  vast,  varied,  wonderful,  be- 
neficent. It  is  weighing  the  planets,  analyzing  the 
sun,  making  each  dumb  and  stony  -  lipped  mount- 
ain eloquent  and  impressive ;  it  is  filling  the  water  - 
drop  with  teeming  life  and  showing  us  the  germ  of 
a  world  in  an  atom  ;  it  is  resolving  our  coal  -  fields 
into  sunbeams  and  showing  the  oneness  of  heat 
and  motion ;  it  is  giving  the  winds  a  captain  and 
making  the  lightning  man's  docile  servant ;  it  is 
bridging  the  ages  with  solid  facts,  and  bringing 
what  seemed  the  most  wayward  and  wandering 
phenomena  within  the  embrace  of  law ;  it  is  illus- 
trating the  majesty  of  man  and  interpreting  the  in- 
finity of  God.  It  is  not  for  Christian  men  to  de- 
nounce it  as  the  soul's  greatest  peril.  Rather,  it 
should  be  heard  with  candor  by  the  church  and 
welcomed  as  an  ally  by  the  pulpit.  If  it  fairly  dis- 
proves a  cherished  opinion,  let  the  opinion  go. 
What  do  any  of  us  want  of  a  falsehood,  but  to  has- 
ten with  it  to  burial?  If  it  shows  that  truth  really 
requires  us  to  modify  our  creed, —  no  matter  wheth- 
er that  creed  was  built  up  by  our  own  hands  or  in- 
herited from  the  earlier  centuries, —  we  may  well 
thank  it  for  having  taught  us.  It  may  reach  and 
open  sepulchres  where  great  truths  lie  buried,  roll 
away  the  stone,  and  set  them  free  to  walk  the  earth 
.as  ministers  of  light  and  givers  of  blessing. 


CRUSADES  AND  CRUSADERS.         409 

And  yet,  do  not  scientific  crusaders  at  times  go 
beyond  their  province?  Coming  into  the  domain 
of  Christian  faith  and  experience,  and  applying 
physical  tests  to  spiritual  nature  and  life,  are  they 
not  guilty  of  impertinence?  They  can  dissect  a 
muscle  ;  but,  with  all  their  crucibles  and  re  -  agents, 
can  they  analyze  a  purpose  ?  Because  they  can  fol- 
low a  cell  all  the  way  up  to  a  complex  organism, 
must  we  admit  that  their  microscopes  enable  them 
to  trace  an  infant's  soul  up  to  its  outcome  in  a  Chris- 
tian character?  A  convolution  of  the  brain  is  an  un- 
doubted fact ;  but  an  affection  of  the  heart,  reach- 
ing out  to  a  mother  or  springing  up  to  the  Great 
Parent  in  heaven,  is  another  fact,  not  less  solid  and 
far  more  vital,  though  it  lies  beyond  the  material- 
ist's realm.  Because  he  finds  infinite  force  working 
by  law,  we  can  not  justify  him  in  calling  us  to  at- 
tend the  funeral  of  the  great,  personal  God.  Be- 
cause he  has  deciphered  some  striking  inscriptions 
on  the  rocks,  we  can  not  quietly  allow  him  to  take 
away  the  old  family  Bible.  When  a  man  has  long 
wrestled  with  his  passion  and  his  accusing  con- 
science, and  been  always  mastered,  and  then,  seek- 
ing higher  aid  than  human,  has  heard  a  voice  like 
that  over  storm  -  tossed  Gennesaret,  saying,  ' '  Peace, 
be  still,"  and  so  found  calmness  and  liberty ;  when 
a  baffled  and  weary  toiler,  whose  hands  begin  to 
droop  and  whose  heart  is  ready  to  despair,  catches 
that  sentence  ringing  across  the  ages  like  the  music 
of  silver  bells, —  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor 
and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest,"  and 


4IO  GEORGE    TIFFANY   DAY. 

feels  the  load  daily  lightening,  and  the  heart, 
eased  of  its  fear  and  fever,  settling  into  healthy 
repose  ;  when  a  large  -  souled  woman,  going  back 
from  the  grave  -  yard  to  what  was  her  home, 
widowed  and  childless,  and  straining  her  eyes 
to  look  through  the  darkness  and  tears,  reads  the 
simple  sentence,  —  "  Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,"  and  so  learns  to  take  up  her  life-work 
again  with  a  smile,  and  carry  it  patiently  to  the  end 
for  which  she  is  now  quite  content  to  wait ;  when  a 
sunny  -  spirited  girl,  to  whom  life  is  like  a  rythmic 
poem  or  the  breaking  out  of  a  rose  -  bud  into  flower, 
stands  face  to  face  with  death,  and  feels  her  soul 
going  out  alone  into  the  Hereafter  which  no  mortal 
has  fathomed,  and  yet  turns  earthward  an  instant 
with  lit  eye  and  rapt  face  to  whisper,  ",  I  know  that 
my  Redeemer  liveth," — "  Thanks  be  to  God  who 
giveth  us  the  victory,"  and  so  passes  silently  and 
sublimely  on  ; — when  such  experiences  of  soul-  life 
appear,  as  they  often  do,  is  it  for  men  to  come  in  the 
name  of  materialistic  science  and  tell  us  that  these 
are  only  feverish  fancies  that  evaporate  in  the  chem- 
ist's crucible,  or  beautiful  myths  born  of  a  disorder- 
ed brain?  No,  a  thousand  times,  No!  We  will 
hear  the  experimentist  who  keeps  to  his  province, 
but  we  may  well  turn  away  from  the  philosopher 
who  begins  by  sending  the  Lord  into  exile  and 
striking  down  the  deepest  instincts  and  divinest  ex- 
periences of  the  soul.  Such  crusaders  must  change 
their  programme  and  reconstruct  their  policy  or 
they  will  never  come  back  with  victory  blazing  on 


CRUSADES  AND  CRUSADERS.         41 1 

their  banners,  nor   receive  any  popular  following. 

It  is  natural  to  wish  for  an  active  part  in  some 
crusade  that  aims  to  overthrow  a  huge  wrong  and 
publicly  enthrone  a  great  truth.  We  read  of  them 
in  history,  or  think  of  them  in  society,  and  long  to 
share  in  the  quickening  and  the  glory  that  appear 
to  be  theirs.  Ambitious  and  generous  souls 
alike  share  this  craving.  It  may  be  wholesome  and 
a  virtue  ;  or  it  may  lack  wisdom  and  carry  no  prom- 
ise. But  a  noble,  glad  and  fruitful  life  does  not  de- 
pend on  marching  with  a  great  host  that  moves  with 
the  tread  and  banners  of  an  army.  There  are  real 
crusaders,  who  wear  no  outward  badge  and  walk 
.with  no  multitude.  Whoever  keeps  the  right  heart 
and  the  high  purpose  is  really  marshaled  and  count- 
ed in  the.  great  host  at  whose  head  God's  Providence 
marches. 

What  is  wanted  to  make  up  a  real  crusade? 
Several  things :  a  keen  inner  eye,  and  a  sensitive 
heart,  to  see  and  feel  the  organized  lie  that  is  to  be 
supplanted  by  the  apprehended  truth ;  an  enlist- 
ment of  consenting  minds  and  dedicated  energies ; 
the  spirit  that  takes  needed  trial  and  hardship  as 
.Christ  took  his  cross;  leaders  with  brain  and 
character ;  a  vital  faith  in  the  idea  to  be  enthron- 
ed, and  in  the  divine  might  which  assures  success. 
Leave  out  any  one  of  these  elements,  and  the 
movement  may  prove  a  failure,  an  abortion,  a 
farce,  a  thing  for  the  centuries  to  laugh  at.  Let  all 
these  things  be  present  in  any  great  movement,  and 
in  time  it  will  silence  ridicule,  defy  criticism,  belie 


412  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

hostile  prophecy,  master  opposition,  and  become  the 
royal  force  of  its  period.  Let  even  common  men 
join  in  such  a  movement,  and  they  will  be  lifted  and 
kindled.  Men  get  from  it  more  than  they  give. 
While  our  late  struggle  for  union  and  liberty  was 
prostituted  here  and  there  to  the  basest  ends,  and 
not  a  few  pure  souls  were  tainted  to  the  core  by  it, 
there  were  those  who  went  out  pieces  of  human 
drift  -  wood  and  came  back  clear  -  eyed  patriots  and 
resolute  actors.  Thus  wedded  to  what  is  ennobling, 
visions  come  to  men  that  make  their  eyes  gleam  like 
a  prophet's ;  they  read  their  triumphs  in  disasters  as 
from  the  page  of  an  illuminated  book ;  and  they  are 
not  likely  to  return  with  trailing  banners,  or  scars 
in  the  back,  or  a  tale  of  defeat.  That  is  a  truth  rec- 
ognized by  the  ages.  "  Hitch  your  wagon  to  a 
star,  and  you  can  not  miss  the  road  over  which  he- 
roes go  to  their  thrones,"  cries  the  transcendental 
Emerson.  It  is  but  the  forcible  echo  of  what  was 
said  again  and  again  through  the  lips  of  Hebrew 
prophets  long  centuries  before.  Lowell  has  turned 
the  real  Crusader's  soul  inside  out  for  us  in  a  single 
stanza : 

"  Careless  seems  the  great  Avenger;  history's  pages  but  record 
One  great  struggle  in  the  darkness  'twixt  old  systems  and  the 

Word ; 

Right  forever  on  the  scaffold,  Wrong  forever  on  the  throne ; 
But  tint  scaffold  sways  the  future,  and  behind  the  dim  unknown 
Standeth  God  within  the  shadow,keeping  watch  above  his  own." 

We  have  had  our  crusades  and  crusaders  here  so 
lately  that  they  are  fresh  things.     Some  of  them 


CRUSADES    AND    CRUSADERS.  413 

are  at  hand  even  now.  There  is  the  crusade  against 
the  injustice  embodied  in  our  system  of  slavery.  It 
had  all  the  strong  and  better  elements,  and  some  of 
the  weaker  and  worse.  It  is  a  familiar  story,  but 
full  of  meaning.  The  great  actors  were  many,  with 
familiar  names, — quite  too  many  for  the  roll -call 
here.  How  they  crowd  upon  the  thought !  Phil- 
lips, with  lion  heart  and  golden  lips ;  Channing, 
with  piercing  conscience  and  saintly  soul ;  Lovejoy, 
putting  the  crown  of  martyrdom  on  his  quiet 
bravery ;  Giddings,  that  human  warhorse,  always 
roused  by  the  scent  of  far  -  off-  battle  ;  Mrs.  Child, 
mastering  with  her  woman's  sympathy  what  had 
grown  defiant  before  masculine  logic ;  Sumner,  first 
painting  American  barbarism,  and  then  so 
smitten  down  by  it  as  to  prove  the  accuracy  of  his 
picture ;  Hale,  fashioning  thunderbolts  with  his 
strong  logic  and  scattering  hatreds  with  his  genial 
humor.  We  can  not  pass  by  him  who  preached 
the  Anti  -  Slavery  crusade  in  New  England  not 
less  impressively  than  Peter  preached  in  Europe. 
How  the  words  come  back  to  us  now,  written  in  the 
Boston  printing  office  while  he  was  yet  a  young 
man,  in  response  to  a  public  caution  against  sever- 
ity and  a  warning  against  the  results  of  rashness : 
"  I  will  be  as  harsh  as  truth  and  as  uncompromising 
as  justice.  I  will  not  extenuate ;  I  will  not  ex- 
cuse ;  I  will  not  retreat  a  single  inch ;  and  I  will  be 
heard."  That  early  word  of  Garrison's  was  the 
key  -  note  of  the  struggle  whose  end  he  lived  to  see, 
though  not  till  our  ideas  had  been  put  into  Parrott 


414  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

guns  and  minie  rifles  with  gunpowder  behind  them, 
and  drawn  out  into  sword  -  points  with  strong  arms 
to  make  them  penetrate.  Then  the  Bastile  fell  be- 
fore the  crusaders,  and  the  despotism  found  a  grave 
over  which  breaks  no  promise  of  a  resurrection. 

The  old  world,  too,  bears  its  part  in  this  crusade 
against  the  oppression  of  the  people,  and  has  found 
noble  leaders ;  Cobden,  the  patient  and  wise  re- 
former ;  Bright,  the  incarnate  thunder  -  tone  in 
which  millions  of  working  men's  voices  condense 
themselves;  Kossuth,  through  whose  lips  Hungary 
sent  her  piteous  and  majestic  cry  to  the  continents ; 
Mazzini,  that  embodied  dream  of  a  regenerated 
Italy  ;  Castelar,  the  statesman  -  orator,  struggling 
to  bring  republican  order  out  of  the  chaos  which 
Bourbonism  left  as  its  chief  legacy  to  Spain.  It  is 
a  grand  crusade,  whose  hosts  stretch  through  cen- 
turies, whose  leaders  exalt  humanity,  and  whose 
end  means  justice  supreme  in  all  lands. 

In  the  great  crusade  that  aims  to  pull  down  the 
Wrong  and  build  up  the  Right,  every  true  -  hearted 
worker  has  a  part.  The  sphere  may  be  humble,  the 
lot  lowly,  the  tasks  of  the  commonest  sort,  the  days 
may  go  by  quietly,  the  life  -  story  may  be  unknown 
to  the  great  world.  The  years  may  be  spent  in  fol- 
lowing the  plow,  in  handling  the  saw  and  plane, be- 
fore the  mast  on  the  ship's  deck,  in  hammering  iron 
into  fresh  shapes  and  uses,  in  work  behind  the 
counter,  in  bending  over  the  sewing  machine,  in 
the  routine  of  domestic  cares,  in  keeping  the  spin- 
dle busy  and  the  loom  productive,  in  opening  the 


CRUSADES  AND  CRUSADERS.         415 

mysteries  of  the  spelling  -  book  to  little  children,  in 
allaying  the  fever  and  soothing  the  pain  of  the  sick 
room,  in  carrying  the  load  of  bodily  weakness  with 
a  brave  soul  and  a  patient  sweetness  ;  —  life  may  be 
thus  devoted,  and  yet  if  the  true  spirit  is  kept  active, 
the  very  humblest  of  such  workers  is  made  by  Prov- 
idence a  vital  part  of  that  crusading  force  before 
which  the  oldest  tyrannies  and  the  most  audacious 
evils  must  surely  give  way. 

Not  to  gain  and  watch  around  the  tomb  of  a  dead 
Messiah  in  some  distant  land  does  this  host  organ- 
ize and  march  and  struggle  ;  but  to  diffuse  every- 
where the  quickening  spirit  of  Him  who  was  dead 
but  is  alive  forevermore,  whose  sure  victories  are 
healing  instead  of  hurting,  and  whose  final  conquest 
blossoms  out  in  the  concord  of  nations.  Thus  carry- 
ing on  our  better  crusade  with  the  hero's  heart  and 
the  believer's  aspiration,  this  picture  of  Longfellow's 
shall  be  no  morbid  dream,  but  a  blessed  waking 
vision  daily  changing  into  fact : 

Down  the  deep  future,  through  long  generations, 
The  sounds  of  strife  grow  fainter  and  then  cease  ; 

And  like  a  bell,  with  solemn,  sweet  vibrations, 
I  hear  once  more  the  voice  of  Christ  say,—"  Peace !  " 


416  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

VII. 
ANGLO  -  SAXON  :    THE    OLD    AND   THE    NEW.* 

We  find  the  older  forms  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
element  in  history  and  language,  and  its  chief  home 
in  England.  We  find  the  newer  phases  in  actual 
and  prospective  life,  and  its  later  sphere  especially 
American.  We  study  both  history  and  language 
more  and  in  better  ways  than  formerly.  We  have 
fresher  text -books,  and  more  quickening  teachers. 
Grote  and  Gibbon,  Macaulay  and  Motley,  Buckle 
and  Froude,  Bunsen  and  Guizot,  have  made  his- 
tory quite  another  thing.  We  are  not  now  treated 
to  dry  details,  to  prolix  and  tedious  narrations,  to 
stiff  pictures  of  the  court  and  cloister,  the  conspira- 
cies and  campaigns,  the  bullying  and  the  battles. 
Now,  to  read  a  page  of  the  historian  is  often  like 
opening  a  gallery  of  splendid  portraits,  where  we 
look  into  the  very  faces  of  the  leading  actors  of  by- 
gone times  and  buried  nations.  The  departed  years 
seem  to  come  back  at  our  bidding,  and  the  dead 
live  anew,  —  to  turn  a  new  leaf  is  like  unrolling  a 
vast  panorama,  where  whole  generations  sweep  by 
in  an  eager  procession,  impelled  more  by  the  hand 
of  Providence  than  by  the  force  of  the  will.  The 
various  nations  clasp  hands.  The  whole  race 
is  seen  to  be  a  unit.  The  products  of  life  at 

*Purely  historical  matter  and  also  extensive  poetical  illustrations,— in 
certain  ways  necessary  to  the  popular  lecture,— are  omitted  here. 


ANGLO-SAXON:  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW.  417 

one  period  appear  as  the  outcome  of  seed  scattered 
centuries  before.  The  most  remote  lands  are 
bound  to  each  other  by  a  thousand  ties.  The  latest 
civilization  is  seen  thrusting  its  roots  into  the  grave 
of  the  earliest.  History,  read  in  this  way,  becomes 
at  once  teacher,  inspirer  and  prophet ;  man  rises  .in 
dignity ;  society  is  a  wondrous  growth,  and  God's 
Providence  takes  on  new  majesty. 

Since  Schlegel  and  Grimm,  Turner  and  Latham, 
Max  Miiller,  Craik,  Marsh  and  Whitney  have  put 
us  upon  the  study  of  Comparative  Philology,  we  find 
a  meaning  in  language  such  as  the  old  dictionary 
and  grammar  never  suggested.  It  is  no  longer  a 
mere  mechanical  instrument,  or  a  set  of  accepted 
symbols,  but  an  organism,  a  growth,  a  living  thing. 

The  people  that  used  it  poured  into  it  their  life  - 
blood  and  gave  it  a  soul.  It  registers  the  changes 
through  which  their  life  has  passed.  It  still  carries 
all  their  beautiful  fancies  as  though  they  were  fresh 
blossoms.  It  swells  with  their  great  hopes.  It 
keeps  the  soldier's  battle-cry  and  enshrines  his 
valor.  The  mother's  lullabies  run  through  it  like  a 
thread  of  melody.  It  catches  up  the  laughter  of  little 
children,  who  made  music  in  the  household,  and 
sends  it  ringing  down  the  centuries. 

Wherever  a  new  tide  of  life  has  come  into  a  land, 
the  language  marks  the  precise  point  which  it 
reaches,  as  the  Nilometer  at  Cairo  marks  the  rise  of 
the  great  river  that  holds  the  great  desert  at  bay  and 
makes  Egypt  a  garden.  Reading  the  literature  and 
analyzing  the  speech  of  an  extinct  people,  we  pos- 


418  GEORGE     TIFFANY    DAY. 

sess  more  than  half  their  secrets ;  we  know 
even  their  rarer  experiences ;  and  we  read  their 
character  as  the  geologist  reads  off  the  condition 
of  the  earth  in  a  remote  period  by  looking  over  the 
fossils  in  a  museum. 

Borne  over  from  its  Teutonic  home  in  lower  Ger- 
many, the  Saxon  element  roots  itself  in  the  English 
soil,  crowding  out  or  taking  up  the  Celtic  elements 
which  still  tarry,  and  working  them  into  its  own  or- 
ganism. The  sunshine  of  the  Christian  faith  falls 
upon  it,  making  it  less  rough  and  more  flexible. 
It  takes  the  deposit  which  the  Danish  invasion 
brings,  and,  although  warped  and  hindered,  it 
grows  still.  It  bends  and  shivers  when  the  Norman 
avalanche  comes  thundering  down  upon  coast  and 
midland,  but  it  is  not  uprooted,  and  it  will  not  die ; 
—  nay,  it  shows  fresh  vigor  and  bears  ampler  fruit. 

It  starts  out  for  a  broader  sphere  in  the  new  world, 
and  finds  it.  Clasping  its  roots  about  Plymouth 
Rock,  it  pushes  its  branches  on  across  the  continent, 
and  stops  for  no  rest  till,  descending  the  slopes  of 
the  Sierra  Nevada,  it  is  checked  by  the  waves  of 
the  Pacific.  Certainly,  in  all  this  it  shows  its  tough- 
ness, its  tenacity,  its  power  of  assimilation,  and  so 
proves  the  strength  of  its  life,  and  prophesies  its 
victorious  future. 

Turning  now  to  the  English  Language,  we  shall 
find  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  element  is  not  less  pow- 
erful and  important  than  it  has  been  in  English  his- 
tory. 

As  the  Anglo-Saxons  were  a  branch  of  the  Old 


ANGLO  -  SAXON  :  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW.  419 

Teutonic  family,  so  their  language,  when  they 
made  themselves  masters  of  England,  was  a  branch 
of  the  Old  Teutonic  tongue. 

Less  than  forty  words  can  now  be  found  in  our 
tongue  that  were  used  by  the  early  Britons.  The 
Danish  invasion  added  a  small  stock  of  words,  but 
they  were  neither  numerous  nor  important  enough 
to  produce  any  marked  effect.  The  missionaries 
brought  in  the  Latin  tongue,  for  this  was  the  lan- 
guage of  scholars  throughout  Europe,  and  held 
nearly  all  the  ecclesiastical  learning  of  the  time. 
But  as  few  of  the  Saxons  were  scholars,  it  was  not 
much  used  among  the  people,  but  remained  in  the 
cloister  or  circulated  in  the  narrow  circles  of  the' 
learned  few. 

But  the  Norman  conquest  brought  a  change  in 
speech  as  well  as  in  general  life.  The  language 
used  by  these  Normans  at  this  time  was  what  is 
known  as  Norman- French,  differing  from  other 
French  only  by  having  more  or  less  Scandinavian 
words  mixed  with  it,  which  they  had  brought  from 
their  home  in  the  North.  This  Norman,  or  Nor- 
man-French, came  originally  from  the  Latin. 

After  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  some  centu- 
ries before,  the  old  Latin  language,  which  had  been 
spoken  in  Italy,  became  broken  into  fragments,  and 
gave  rise  to  the  family  of  languages  known  as  the 
Romance,  of  which  the  modern  Italian,  the  Span- 
ish, the  Portuguese  and  the  French  are  the  chief 
members.  It  was  the  French,  coming  from  the 
shattered  Latin,  and  lacking  the  finish  of  the 


42O  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

French  of  to-day,  which  these  conquering  Nor- 
mans brought  into  England.  They  meant  to  root 
out  the  Saxon  tongue  and  put  their  own  in  its  place. 
But  these  plucky  and  defiant  Saxons  utterly  refused 
to  give  up  their  native  speech  and  use  that  of  their 
hated  conquerors.  And  so  the  two  languages 
fought  for  life  and  supremacy.  The  Normans  were 
the  rulers,  and  they  tried  the  virtue  of  law  and  co- 
ercion. Only  the  Norman  tongue  was  used  at 
court,  in  camp,  in  parliament,  in  the  baron's  hall  or 
the  lady's  boudoir.  In  this  language  the  laws  were 
written,  and  all  judicial  proceedings  conducted. 
No  civil  contract  was  binding,  no  man  could  sue  or 
be  sued,  no  right  could  be  enforced,  no  wrong  re- 
dressed, no  favor  won,  except  in  the  language  of 
the  governing  race.  The  first  step  for  every  Saxon 
serf  who  wished  to  rise  to  anything  like  equality 
with  his  Norman  neighbor,  was  to  forget  his  moth- 
er tongue  and  train  his  lips  to  the  speech  of  his  for- 
eign masters. 

The  Normans  inhabited  the  towns,  managed  the 
markets,  held  most  of  the  money,  and  kept  the  mas- 
tery of  trade.  The  Saxons  dwelt  in  the  country, 
tilled  the  soil,  furnished  the  supplies  and  talked  in 
the  old  speech.  So  that,  while  this  state  of  things 
lasted,  there  were  three  distinct  languages  in  use. 
The  Latin  was  used  in  the  schools,  and  among  the 
scholars  in  the  church ;  the  Norman  at  the  court, 
the  bar  and  the  market ;  the  Saxon  over  the  wide 
domain  of  rural  life.  And  yet  these  different  class- 
es mingled  with  some  freedom. 


ANGLO-SAXON:  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW.  421 

When  at  length  it  became  obvious  that  the  Nor- 
mans would  stay  and  that  the  Saxons  would  not  be 
vassals,  these  two  diverse  tongues  became  welded 
into  one  language,  just  as  the  two  peoples  became 
welded  into  one  nation ;  but  the  tongues  were 
never  fused  any  more  than  the  peoples,  lor  it 
is  very  easy  to  trace  the  lines  that  separate 
them  even  now.  And,  as  the  Saxons  were  far 
more  numerous  and  wide  -  spread  than  the  Nor- 
mans, and  as  their  language  had  enjoyed  a  foot- 
hold for  some  centuries,  the  Saxon  became  the 
basis  and  body  of  the  English  language  which  re* 
suited  from  the  union,  and  through  all  changes  it 
remains  such  to  this  day. 

The  Anglo  -  Saxon  element  of  our  language  is 
that  which  belongs  to  domestic  life.  It  is  the  native 
speech  of  love,  and  trust,  and  hope.  The  strongest 
passion  speaks  in  this  dialect.  The  hero's  watch- 
words are  Saxon,  and  so  are  the  terms  in  which  we 
naturally  tell  of  his  bravest  and  noblest  deeds.  The 
cry  of  a  struggling  soul  to  Heaven  is  wont  to  go  up 
in  this  style  of  speech  ;  for  it  echoes  the  publican's 
plea,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner ;  "  and  the 
highest  word  of  faith,  whether  it  be  watching 
through  the  long,  starless  night,  or  meeting  the  last 
earthly  foe,  is  spoken  in  the  old  Saxon  tongue,  for 
we  hear  it  sounding  still,  "  Though  he  slay  me,  yet 
will  I  trust  in  him!"  "O  Death,  where  is  thy 
sting?" 

Anglo-Saxon  speech  is  simple,  clear,  strong,  di- 
rect ;  sometimes  blunt,  pungent,  audacious,  it  may 


422  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

be,  but  often  wondrously  rich,  sweet  and  tender. 
To  hear  it  brings  up  the  image  of  one  who  means 
just  what  he  says,  who  looks  you  straight  in  the 
eye,  who  wastes  no  time  nor  breath  in  his  talk.  Men 
who  live  by  plotting,  and  speak  with  a  double 
meaning,  do  not  use  it.  Diplomacy,  finesse  and 
coquetry  are  chiefly  carried  on  in  Latin  and  Nor- 
man. It  always  reaches  the  brain  and  heart  of  the 
common  people,  for  it  is  their  own  speech  to  the 
manor  born ;  and  he  who  would  sway  the  masses 
of  men  by  his  words,  will  find  here  the  hiding  place 
of  his  power. 

That  part  of  our  language  which  comes  from  the 
Latin,  is  the  language  of  a  class.  It  is  the  dialect 
of  scholars,  who  give  up  a  greater  boon  for  a  less. 
It  seems  unfortunate  that  educated  men,  who  do  so 
much  to  fix  our  habits  of  speech,  should  draw  so 
largely  on  the  Latin,  and  let  go  that  which  is  both 
native  and  better.  There  is  this  apology  for  them. 
They  are  earl}'-  put  upon  the  study  of  Latin,  just 
when  the  mental  habits  are  forming  and  the  whole 
mind  is  plastic.  Many  of  them  form  the  habit  of 
using  terms  that  came  from  the  old  classic  tongue, 
and  learn  to  love  it,  not  wisely  but  too  well,  and  so 
keep  using  it  from  choice.  Or  if,  in  later  years, 
they  see  the  special  value  of  the  old  Anglo-  Saxon, 
they  find  it  hard  to  throw  off  fixed  habits,  and  strug- 
gle for  simplicity  with  only  partial  success  for  the 
rest  of  life. 

We  do  not  mean  to  condemn  to  hopeless  exile  the 
great  mass  of  words  that  have  come  to  us  from  for- 


ANGLO  -  SAXON  :    THE   OLD   AND   THE    NEW.    423 

eign  tongues.  They  have  come  through  our  seek- 
ing, have  been  naturalized,  and  rendered  us  large 
service.  Let  them  stay  as  a  matter  of  justice  and 
profit.  The  English  language  is  really  larger  in  its 
capacity  for  the  presence  of  these  foreign  elements. 
Every  one  of  them  brings  its  quota  of  wealth,  and 
pours  it  into  our  speech  until  the  English  language 
of  to-day  is  unequalled  in  resources  and  power. 
Though  less  simple  and  harder  to  master  than  it 
would  otherwise  have  been,  it  has  become  a  mag- 
nificent instrument  of  thought.  Its  vocabulary  is 
wonderfully  full.  It  well  represents  many  tongues, 
living  and  dead.  Its  capacity  and  its  invasions 
have  made  its  wealth  enormous.  As  another  result 
of  having  many  foreign  words,  it  is  especially  rich 
in  synonyms.  As  a  single  example,  take  the  word 
s/iine,  meaning  to  emit  light,  and  observe  what  a 
list  of  words  express  the  same  general  idea,  though 
each  has  a  shade  of  meaning  peculiar  to  itself. 
We  have  beam,  blaze,  coruscate,  dazzle,  flame, 
flare,  flash,  glare,  gleam, -glitter,  glisten,  glister, 
glow,  illume,  illuminate,  irradiate,  schimmer,  scin- 
tillate and  sparkle.  For  large  and  varied  power, 
our  tongue  may  safely  challenge  comparison  with 
all  the  tongues  of  history,  since  it  has  been  thus  en- 
riched from  these  many  sources. 

Other  languages  do  indeed  excel  it  in  single 
qualities.  The  Greek  has  more  artistic  finish  ;  the 
Latin  has  more  stateliness ;  the  Italian  more  mel- 
ody ;  the  French  more  spirit  and  grace  ;  the  Ger- 
man more  calm  strength  ;  but  not  one  of  them  can 


424  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

call  the  roll  of  all  those  qualities  that  go  to  make  a 
tongue  the  pliant  and  adequate  instrument  of  royal 
minds,  like  the  language  in  which  Shakespeare 
painted  humanity,  and  Bacon  mapped  out  the 
realm  of  thought,  and  Milton  sang  of  Paradise. 

There  is  a  class  of  minds  and  themes  that  seem 
to  need  the  stately  Latin  element  of  the  language 
in  which  to  appear,  and  the  dress  adds  to  their 
majesty.  We  follow  Hooker,  when  he  points 
out  the  sphere  and  the  work  of  law,  as  we 
follow  the  march  of  constellations  across  the 
sky,  wondering  and  adoring  all  the  while.  To 
read  Gibbon's  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  is  like  list- 
ening to  the  swell  of  the  sea  as  it  comes  rolling  in 
upon  the  beach,  wave  thundering  upon  wave,  over- 
leaping its  barriers  and  mocking  at  man's  pride  and 
power.  And  when  Chalmers  is  at  the  height  of  his 
enthusiasm,  pouring  out  his  magnificent  periods  in 
his  discourses  on  Astronomy,  one  feels  as  if  he 
were  hearing  the  grander  passages  of  an  oratorio 
from  the  great  Freiburg  organ  pulsing  along  the 
nave  of  the  cathedral  till  the  burden  of  solemn  joy 
is  almost  too  great  to  be  borne.  So  much  may  be 
said  in  behalf  of  the  foreign  elements  that  have  min- 
gled with  our  native  English  speech. 

The  words  that  cling  closest  to  the  memory  are 
of  this  kind.  Milton  freely  borrows  speech  from 
the  Latin,  which  he  knew  so  well,  when,  in  his  ma- 
jestic prose,  he  writes  his  defense  of  the  English 
people  and  pleads  for  the  liberty  of  the  press ;  but 
when,  as  Macaulay  puts  it,  he  "soars  with  his 


ANGLO  -  SAXON  .*  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW.  42$ 

singing  robes  about  him,"  it  is  a  Saxon  melody  that 
trembles  in  the  upper  air  and  fills  the  heart  of  the 
centuries  with  ecstacy.  Dickens  sometimes  mar- 
shals his  sentences  after  the  old  Roman  style,  when 
his  theme  is  general  or  remote  ;  but  it  is  the  raciest 
Saxon  in  which  he  gives  us  the  unique  and  con- 
tagious wit  of  Sam  Weller,  and  with  which  he 
melts  us  to  tears  around  the  grave  of  Little  Nell. 
Tennyson  draws  on  his  classical  learning  at  times, 
and  then  we  listen  to  him  as  to  the  artistic  passages 
in  a  symphony ;  but  his  poems  of  the  heart,  such  as 
the  May  Queen  and  Enoch  Arden,  appear  in  the 
very  dialect  that  he  heard  dropping  from  his  moth- 
er's lips,  when  he  was  a  child.  It  is  the  Saxon 
that  holds  Webster's  massive  ideas  ;  it  is  the  Saxon 
that  carries  the  quaint  and  incisive  thought  of  Lin- 
coln, making  us  admire  and  quote  his  pithy  sayings, 
while  we  venerate  his  martyred  manliness.  It  is 
the  Saxon  that  lights  up  the  simple  but  splendid  or- 
atory and  points  the  calm  but  terrible  invective  of 
Phillips.  It  is  the  Saxon  that  rings  out  like  a 
smith's  hammer  on  the  anvil,  or  like  the  peals  of 
the  old  independence  bell,  in  Whittier's  songs  of  la- 
bor and  liberty. 

We  can  only  glance  at  the  Anglo-Saxon  element 
in  life.  Time  has  mingled  this  element  with  others. 
Saxon  and  Norman  blood  flow  in  the  same  veins. 
Saxon  and  Norman  words  unite  in  the  same  sen- 
tence and  to  express  a  common  thought.  But  the 
lines  which  divide  them  are  not  all  effaced.  In 
England  the  ruling  classes  are  largely  Norman. 


426  GEORGE     TIFFANY     DAY. 

But  the  Saxon  force  gains  in  influence,  wins  its 
rights,  and  mounts  to  position.  It  is  mostly  Saxon 
brain  that  invents  and  Saxon  muscle  that  builds. 
Trade  and  commerce  are  passing  under  Saxon  con- 
trol. And  steadily  the  Saxon  element  is  rising  to 
the  place  of  political  authority.  It  is  this  that  re- 
peals Corn  Laws ;  that  widens  the  sphere  of  the 
ballot, —  that  sends  men  up  to  every  Parliament  to 
speak  and  act  for  the  people, —  that  is  steadily  cut- 
ting the  cords  that  bind  church  and  state, —  that  is 
fashioning  a  true  public  school  system, —  that 
makes  and  unmakes  Cabinets. 

In  that  great  recent  struggle  on  the  continent,  be- 
fore which  the  world  stood  dumb  with  surprise,  we 
see  a  contest  between  almost  precisely  the  same 
forces  that  wrestled  1400  years  ago  for  the  posses- 
sion of  England.  In  both  cases  it  is  the  Teuton 
against  the  Celt.  The  period  and  the  names  have 
changed,  but  substantially  the  same  races  are  fight- 
ing, and  with  very  similar  results.  In  the  fifth  cen- 
tury we  call  it  the  Saxon  against  the  Briton, 
and  the  Briton  goes  down  crushed  in  his  own  fields, 
forests  and  hamlets.  In  the  nineteenth  century  we 
call  it  the  German  against  the  Frenchman ;  and  the 
Frenchman  staggers  and  yields  under  the  shock  of 
disciplined  strength,  surrenders  his  strongest  fortress 
to  escape  the  final  fury  of  the  storm  ;  gives  up  his 
beleagured  capital  in  despair,  and  sells  his  pride  for 
peace. 

In  American  life  we  trace  with  most  ease  the 
working  of  the  Anglo  -  Saxon  element.  The  old 


ANGLO  -  SAXON  :  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW.  427 

Saxon  was  rapacious,  grasping  whatever  he  could 
lay  his  hands  on, —  sometimes  paying  a  fair  regard 
to  honor,  but  quite  as  often  acting  on  the  maxim 
that  might  makes  right.  The  modern  Saxon  in 
America  is  not  wholly  rid  of  this  tendency.  He 
has  gone  on  widening  his  area  and  adding  to  his 
possessions,  making  his  appetite  grow  by  what  it 
feeds  upon.  H'e  has  stretched  out  his  domain  till 
it  is  bounded  on  its  sides  by  opposite  seas. 

The  Saxon  element  in  language  we  have  seen  to 
be  rapacious,  receptive,  and  having  great  power  to 
assimilate  foreign  elements.  It  has  taken  words 
from  all  quarters,  and  wrought  them  into  the  mosa- 
ic of  English  speech.  The  modern  Saxon  in 
America  repeats  the  operation  in  life.  Our  nation 
takes  and  uses  all  comers,  however  numerous  or 
strange.  Though  the  Saxon  element  keeps  the 
royal  place,  yet  the  national  character  is  already  a 
striking  specimen  of  conglomerate.  It  has  taken 
up,  without  hesitation,  English  courage,  Scotch 
tenacity,  Irish  humor,  French  vivacity,  German 
thoroughness,  and  Italian  fervor. 

Thus  does  history  repeat  itself,  and  show  us  that 
it  is  not  easy  for  a  race  to  throw  off  from  the  surface 
what  is  really  bred  in  the  bone.  There  is  still  room 
for  and  need  of  the  aggressive  energy,  the  daring 
and  the  persistence  of  the  Anglo-Saxon.  The 
tasks  set  by  Providence  still  call  for  brave  souls,  and 
Christ  keeps  the  crown  only  for  conquering  heroes. 
True,  we  do  not  wish  this  power  to  work  in  just  the 
old  way.  We  want  the  calm  and  generous  courage 


428  GEORGE    TIFFANY    DAY. 

that  is  born  of  faith  and  fed  by  good  will,  rather 
than  that  which  storms  out  in  passion.  That  old 
vigor  and  fire  are  wanted  to  subdue  nature,  —  to 
make  forests  fruitful  fields, — to  beat  down  public 
wrongs,  — to  dislodge  false  principles  from  the  cita- 
dels of  government, — to  put  an  end  to  the  trade 
that  preys  on  the  people's  virtue, — to  cement  the 
warring  nations  into  a  political  brotherhood,  —  and 
to  plant  the  best  and  highest  thoughts  over  all  isl- 
ands and  continents,  so  that  the  tree  of  life  may  every- 
where flourish,  whose  fruits  thrive  all  through  the 
year  and  whose  leaves  are  for  the  healing  of  the 
nations.  That  is  the  new  Anglo-Saxon  for  which 
the  world  is  waiting. 

There  is  no  glorious  destiny  for  this  Anglo-  Sax- 
on race  which  an  unsound  character  and  a  heedless 
heart  may  not  render  impossible.  One.  may  be 
pardoned  for  his  anxiety  at  times  over  the  future 
of  his  country.  Looking  at  certain  phases  of  this 
Anglo  -  Saxon  race  at  home,  —  at  the  audacity  that 
seems  forgetting  modest)''  and  reverence ;  at  the 
greed  of  gain  ;  at  the  mad  race  for  distinctions  which 
we  are  unwilling  to  earn  ;  at  the  gambling  in  stocks  ; 
the  gigantic  schemes  of  swindling  corporations 
which  defy  the  courts  or  buy  them  ;  at  the  furious 
heat  of  political  partisanship ;  at  the  worship  of  out- 
ward success  even  though  it  has  been  gained  by 
breaking  every  precept  of  the  Decalogue ;  at  the 
casting  off  of  restraint  by  children  and  the  sur- 
render of  authority  by  parents ;  at  the  growing  con- 
tempt of  Paul's  ethics  and  the  rarity  of  that  uplook- 


ANGLO  -  SAXON  :  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW.  429 

ing  meekness  upon  whose  head  Christ  showered  his 
beatitudes; — looking  upon  all  this,  a  Christian 
patriot  may  well  find  a  chill  at  his  heart  as  he  re- 
calls the  truth : 

"  Though  the  mills  of  God  grind  slowly,  yet  they  grind  exceed- 
ing small ; 

Though  with  patience  he  stands  waiting,  with  exactness  grinds 
he  all." 

But  there  is  a  more  hopeful  and  wiser  way  of  look- 
ing at  the  matter.  Our  life  has  better  and  more 
cheering  phases.  If  the  nobler  forces  are  hidden 
at  times,  or  lie  latent,  we  may  hope  that  they  are 
really  here,  and  that  they  will  answer  the  clear  call 
of  duty  and  Providence  as  our  doubted  patriotism 
answered  the  guns  at  Sumter,  or  as  our  suspected 
generosity  answered  the  cry  that  came  out  from  the 
flame  and  smoke  of  a  western  conflagration.  We 
may  hope  that  the  Anglo  -  Saxon  has  yet  the  best 
part  of  his  history  to  make  and  write.  What  he 
has  done,  through  the  favor  of  God,  we  may  take 
as  an  evidence  of  Divine  care  and  sympathy,  and  as 
a  pledge  of  still  better  things.  The  first  patch  of 
verdure  which  April  brings  to  the  meadow  may  be 
vexed  by  harsh  winds,  bleached  by  frosts,  and  bur- 
ied by  snows ;  yet  we  know  that  every  springing 
spire  of  grass  is  a  prophet,  telling  us  that  June  is 
on  the  way,  with  her  hands  full  of  flowers,  her  lips 
dropping  melody,  and  carrying  all  the  glory  of 
summer  in  her  bosom.  So  we  accept  the  things 
already  done  as  a  pledge  of  the  better  things  that 
are  yet  to  be. 


43O  GEORGE  TIFFANY  DAY. 

We  know  that  Divine  Providence  which 
watches  and  rules  over  the  nations  is  just,  but  it  is 
also  patient  and  gracious.  It  has  indeed  smitten 
many  an  old,  wayward  empire  and  crumbled  it  into 
dust.  But  we  may  hope  that  this  nation  will  copy 
the  massiveness  of  Egypt  without  her  self-  deifica- 
tion, the  art  of  Greece  without  her  sensuality,  the 
imperial  majesty  of  Rome  without  her  selfish  haugh- 
tiness —  the  best  things  which  the  wide  world  has 
shown,  without  the  vice  that  cankered  its  heart  and 
turned  its  gold  to  dross.  Doing  this,  she  will  not 
miss  life  nor  honor. 

Looking  at  this  nation  where  the  Anglo  -  Saxon 
finds  his  highest  task  and  his  grandest  opportunity, 
we  are  visited  by  a  striking  vision,  that  we  must  be- 
lieve has  a  basis  of  fact.  It  is  this  :  On  high  sits 
that  Divine  Providence  which  keeps  the  calmness 
of  infinite  strength,  and  deals  with  men  and  nations 
in  infinite  pity,  but  sends  every  faithless  and  irre- 
coverable empire  tumbling  into  disgrace  and  .ruin, 
as  a  warning  to  the  world.  At  once  sentinel  and 
judge,  it  is  summoning  the  peoples  of  to-day  be- 
fore it,  and  asking  of  each  the  countersign  and 
watchword  that  defines  its  position  and  tells  its  pur- 
pose. The  nations  hear  and  come.  Some  of  them 
answer  boldly  and  badly,  and  are  treated  as  spies 
or  traitors.  Others  answer  doubtfully,  and  are 
held  for  trial.  In  her  turn  comes  Anglo  -  Saxon 
America,  and  hears  the  challenge.  Pausing  a 
moment  to  rally  her  purpose  and  put  down  her  pas- 
sion, she  answers  in  a  clear,  firm,  ringing  voice, 


ANGLO-SAXON:  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW.  431 

"Brotherhood  and  Faith."  It  is  enough.  The 
stern  face  of  the  challenger  takes  on  a  smile,  the 
lips  part,  and  these  words  fall  like  the  tones  of  a 
bell :  "  Pass  on,  America  !  Thou  art  God's  prophet 
and  man's  helper.  The  warring  and  weary  world 
waits  for  thee,  and  thy  work  shall  bind  the  nations 
into  concord  as  the  sea  clasps  the  continents.  Pass 
on !  The  flush  on  the  sky  that  greets  thee  pro- 
claims the  dawn  of  that  better  day : 

When  the  war  drums  beat  no  longer, 

And  the  battle  flags  are  furled, 
In  the  parliament  of  man, 

The  federation  of  the  world." 


THE  END. 


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